Blinded by Love
by Wilemina
Summary: An accident changes Abby and Connor's lives forever. Will they be able to deal with the challenges ahead? Sorry, rating has now changed.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Blinded by Love, Chapter 1

Character's/Pairing: Connor/Abby, Becker, Danny, Sarah, Lester, Other

Genres: Angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, humour

A/N: This is the first part of a very long fic I wrote on Live Journal a while back. It was an interactive fic where I asked the people reading it to give me a random suggestion or sentence that I had to work into each chapter. A massive thanks to all those peeps who helped me with ideas and challenged me by coming up with unusual suggestions, hope you all enjoy the read over here. :-)

* * *

Connor couldn't believe it, he was finally moving back home to the flat. As he carted his boxes up the stairs to his bedroom, he couldn't wipe the smile from his face, he'd really missed this place, he'd really missed Abby.

"You want a cuppa Conn?" She shouted from downstairs.

His grin got bigger.

"Please." He replied, plonking the box down on the bed.

He sighed at the sheer volume of stuff he had to do in here to make it his again and got to work unpacking his things.

"Here ya go."

Came Abby's voice from behind him ten minutes later as she held out his drink. He took it gladly, taking a sip of the hot liquid before placing it down on his bedside table.

"Mmmm."

"It's only tea Connor." She chuckled.

"Yeah, but nobody else makes it the way you do." He replied. "You make it just the way I like it."

Abby frowned at him and rolled her eyes.

"You want a hand?" She asked, picking something up from one of the boxes and holding it at arms length in disgust. "What's this?"

Connor snatched the item away and clutched it to his chest.

"That's Saurus." He replied, pouting.

"Saurus?"

"My cuddly dinosaur."

Abby frowned again.

"Doesn't look much like a dinosaur to me."

"Yeah well, I've had him since I was three haven't I? he's bound to be looking a bit worse for wear."

"Don't you think you're a bit old to be sleeping with a stuffed dinosaur Connor?"

"I don't sleep with him! I just keep him for sentimental reasons.."

"Yeah yeah, you'll tell me anything." She snorted.

"I don't need any help thank you!" He said sulkily.

"Awww, come on Conn, you know I'm only joking."

She flashed him one of her smiles and he couldn't help but return it. Neither of them had realised until now how much they had missed the banter that went on between them, their friendship had really suffered since Connor had moved out and it looked like now, things would finally be returning to normal - whatever **that** was.

"Just gonna put these downstairs." He said, picking up a box of computer games.

Abby nodded and walked behind him, following him to the landing.

"Oh, Abbs, you couldn't bring my tea down could you?"

She shook her head and went back into his room to retrieve it. Just as she was bending to pick up his drink, his mobile, which was on the table next to it, started to ring. She didn't think anything of picking it up and answering it, they always answered one another's phones when the other was busy.

"Hello." She answered.

"Oh, erm hi . . . I was looking for Connor, must have got the wrong number." Said a woman's voice on the other end.

"No, no, I'll just get him for you." She replied.

"Thanks."

Abby's curiosity got the better of her.

"Can I ask who's calling please?"

"Tell him it's Kelly, from the other night."

Her stomach began to churn, her heart beating faster as she reached the bottom of the stairs and handed Connor his mobile.

"Kelly, from the other night." She glowered.

Connor looked confused for a moment and then realisation dawned.

"Kelly, hi." He greeted.

Abby stormed off into the kitchen to get Rex's dinner, startling the poor little creature when she practically threw it into his dish. She didn't know what was wrong with her, Connor was a free man, he could do as he pleased. He had hooked up with some girl, apparently he didn't even remember her to begin with for crying out loud! It shouldn't bother her, but it did, it was just so unlike him to do something like this. She'd not had this feeling since . . . Since . . . Caroline! Oh God she was jealous!

"Abby?"

She turned around to see him stood at the door giving her a questioning look.

"What?"

It came out a lot harsher than she'd intended and she followed it with a forced smile.

"Something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine, absolutely fine. Why would anything be wrong?"

"It's just, well, there was a lot of crashing and banging coming from in here and I just . . ."

"Who's Kelly?" She asked before she could stop herself.

"Kelly?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already Connor."

"Kelly, she's just somebody I met the other night when I was out."

"Is that what you call it?"

"Call what Abby? What did I do?"

Abby sighed and rubbed her hands through her hair, the poor bloke looked really confused, and he hadn't done anything wrong. After all, this thing that hung between them wasn't really going anywhere, whenever it did, she always pushed him away.

"Nothing Connor, just forget it ok?" She replied, her tone softening.

"Ok."

He turned and walked back into the living area, still looking rather puzzled by the whole conversation.

* * *

The ARC

"So what you're saying then is that you've developed a laser gun?" Danny Quinn asked Connor as he fiddled with the device in front of him.

Connor made a face.

"Don't . . . touch that," He said, brushing Danny's hands away. "It's a very sensitive piece of equipment."

Danny put his hands up in mock surrender.

At that moment, Becker made a grand entrance into Connor's lab, making the doors bang against the wall.

"So what's all this about a laser gun?" He asked.

"It's **not** a laser gun." Connor whined.

"It uses lasers doesn't it?" asked Becker.

"Well, sort of but . . ."

"And you point it at things and shoot?" Danny added.

"Yeah, but . . ."

"There ya go then, laser gun." Danny replied, patting Connor on the back.

Connor opened his mouth again to protest, but then thought better of it and sighed in defeat.

"Can we make this quick Temple? I have a meeting with the security staff in ten minutes." Becker informed him.

Connor nodded and moved over to the long silver cylindrical device in front of him. He punched numbers onto a keypad on the side of it and it made a whooshing noise as it began to power up.

"Here." He said, handing out dark safety glasses to everyone in the room before putting some on himself. "Put these on, the canon emits low levels of radiation, not so good for the eyes."

"Isn't that a tad dangerous to be taking out into the field?" Asked Becker.

"It's not ready yet, I still have a few kinks to iron out, besides, it's only really dangerous if it's aimed in your direction."

Everyone put on their safety glasses and Connor picked up the gun.

"As I was trying to say before, the cannon doesn't kill it's target."

He pushed a button and the device began to pulse, red lights flashing down its sides.

"You aim at the eyes, it renders them temporarily stunned and therefore, incapacitated."

There was a target on the far wall which Connor aimed for, he felt suddenly very important, the first to try out this new weapon. A gun that wouldn't kill, and couldn't miss like the tranquilizers they used, he pulled the trigger. At that moment, the door to his lab opened once more and in walked Abby Maitland.

"Hi guys, what ya doing?" She asked.

Connor felt suddenly sick.

"Abby! Get . . . "

It was too late, the laser fired and Abby fell to the floor with a thump.

"Abby!" Danny exclaimed as he and Becker rushed to her side.

Connor put the cannon down and joined them, looking down at her prone form. Her face was covered in pinkish burns.

"There's a pulse, it's steady." Danny said.

Becker rushed to the phone and called for help.

"Oh God! Oh Abby!" Connor cried over and over.

Danny held his shoulders and shook him gently.

"Connor, you need to get a grip. What the hell has that thing done to her?"

Connor stared at him wide eyed for a moment, and then looked back to Abby.

"I told you, it stuns."

"So she'll come round in a bit yeah?"

"Yeah, I think so I . . . it's not been tested on humans . . . I . . ."

The medical team arrived and lifted Abby onto a stretcher. Danny stood and told them what had happened and everyone left for the medical bay. Everyone that is except Connor, who still sat on the floor of his lab. When Abby came round she was going to kill him, then another, far more terrible thought crossed his mind. What if she didn't come round?

* * *

Well, what did you think? Good bad? The more reviews, the faster I post the next chapter hehe.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews so far guys, they are what made me post this next part this morning even though I only had two minutes. Absolutely love getting feedback. (hint hint) hehe. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you seemed to enjoy the last. :-)

* * *

By the time Connor had finally dragged himself from the floor of his lab and up to the medical bay, Abby was resting comfortably. He walked into the room slowly, afraid of what he might find but she looked like she was sleeping, the only clue to her being injured were the minor burns to her face and her charred eyebrows, he would **surely** pay for that.

Danny was sitting by her bedside on the opposite side of the room and when he saw Connor, he glared at him.

"Where've you been?" He asked.

"I was . . . Erm . . . I couldn't. . . "

Danny's face softened and he looked back to Abby.

"How is she?" Connor asked, moving to her other side.

"She's stable, heart rate's normal, just a few minor burns. We have to wait for her to come round to tell if there's any other damage."

Connor swallowed.

"W . . w . . what kind of **other **damage?"

"You tell me. You said the cannon hasn't been tested on humans, we don't know what to expect, could have caused . . . " He paused. "Brain damage."

Both men fell silent and Connor fell back into the chair behind him. If Abby ended up with brain damage because of him, he would never forgive himself, it would crush him. It would be the beginning of the end for Connor Temple.

After a few more minutes of silence, Danny stood.

"Well, if you're here then I'll get off. Got to report to Lester and tell him . . . Got to report to Lester."

And with that he was gone.

Connor reached out for Abby's hand, holding it in his own and stroking his thumb over the back.

"Come on Abby, wake up please. You've got to be ok, you've just got to."

Tears streamed down his cheeks and he lay his head on her arm, kissing the exposed skin.

"Connor?"

It was Abby's voice, it was croaky and quiet, but there was no mistaking it. He jumped up, stroking her face gently. Now that her eyes were open, he could see that the usually white part of her eyes was pink and bloodshot and he winced, it looked sore.

"Hey."

"Where are we?" She asked. "Thirsty."

Connor searched around and found a jug of water, he half filled a cup and brought it to her lips. Abby drank eagerly and he pulled it away to prevent her from choking.

"Slowly." He said. "You're in the medical bay at the ARC."

She frowned, looking confused and Connor called the nurse to tell her she was awake.

"I don't understand." Abby said.

The nurse, a young woman called Jane, came over and began performing various tests on her.

"There was an accident." Connor explained.

Abby reached out to Connor, her hand coming into contact with his chest and he blushed. Her hand then travelled down his body, across to his arm and grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard and she looked suddenly terrified.

"Why is it so dark?" She whispered.

Connor swallowed hard.

"D . . dark?"

He shared a worried look with the nurse, who picked up her pen light and began shining it into Abby's eyes.

"Nothing." The nurse said. "I'll go and call Doctor Grayson."

Connor could feel his world crumbling around him, God what had he done?

"Connor, what's going on? Why can't I see?" Asked a still frightened Abby.

"I don't know."

When the doctor arrived, he took one look at Abby's eyes and had her transferred to the local hospital. She needed specialist care, and the ARC was not equipped to deal with such things. The whole team had gone with her, sitting together silently in the waiting room while she had more thorough tests.

Eventually, she returned to her new hospital room and they were allowed to see her.

"I'm afraid that whatever you were exposed to Miss Maitland has burned your retina's. They are quite badly damaged and may or may not recover." The doctor informed them.

Everyone gasped and Abby let out a little sob, swallowing it back down quickly.

"What are the chances that my sight will return?" She asked, sounding much more confident than she felt.

"In such cases as this, where the damage is extensive . . . You may regain some limited vision but without knowing what caused the injury . . . "

Danny, Sarah and Becker exchanged glances, Connor looked at his feet; he felt sick to his stomach.

"So you're saying that I'm going to be blind for the rest of my life?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"We don't like to make such predictions, the human body is . . . "

"**Just** tell me the truth. In your professional opinion, will I be able to see again?"

"I've had similar cases, where the retina was damaged beyond repair. I've yet to have a patient whose sight returned. . . I'm sorry."

She nodded, feeling numb and the doctor left.

"Abby . . . " Sarah began.

"Guys, could ya just give me a minute?" Abby asked, fighting the tears.

"Sure." Danny replied. "We'll come back later yeah?"

Abby nodded again, chewing on her bottom lip. She listened, waiting until their footfalls had faded into the distance and then let it out, sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow.

************

Connor was hiding in the dark. He had gone straight home from the hospital, unable to face anyone. Their knowing sympathetic looks, the way Sarah kept placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, he couldn't deal with it. He had taken a precious gift from the woman he loved; the gift of sight, how could she ever forgive him for that?

He tried to imagine what it would be like in Abby's world, the darkness helped. No colour, no shapes, no smiles. He scrubbed his hands over his face and realised that he was crying, he didn't have the right! He was suddenly angry with himself, how could he sit here like this feeling sorry for himself when Abby was the one who was injured?

A few hours later, Abby woke from a dreamless sleep and as her eyes opened to reveal inky blackness, the memories of her condition assaulted her.

"Hi Abby." Came Sarah's voice from beside her.

She turned in Sarah's direction.

"Hi." She replied sullenly. "Where's Connor?"

"I don't know, off sulking I expect."

"Sulking? Why?"

Abby temporarily forgot her own situation.

"He blames himself for . . . You know."

"For what?"

Connor appeared at the doorway and Sarah stood.

"It's all my fault Abby." He said.

Her head followed the direction of his voice.

"I'm gonna leave you guys to it." Sarah said, making a swift exit.

"What's your fault Connor? I don't understand."

He moved closer, she could smell his familiar scent, it comforted her.

"That you're . . . that . . . "

"That I'm **blind **Connor?"

He winced and nodded, then realising that he needed to speak he whispered;

"Yeah."

"It's not your fault." She replied tersely. "How could it be your fault?"

"I . . . with the laser . . . I shot you."

"No, you didn't. I walked in on a test and got myself shot."

"You remember?"

She shook her head.

"Danny filled me in. Connor, please."

Her voice was softer now and she reached out for him. He went to her, taking both hands in his as he sat by her bedside and she visibly relaxed.

"I need you." She whispered.

It was difficult for Abby to admit that she needed **anyone **but she suspected that she had needed Connor Temple even before her accident.

"I know, I'm sorry I ran off and I'm sorry for . . . "

"It's ok." She cut in. "It's ok."

He moved forward and put his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. She went willingly, wrapping her arms around him and feeling his warmth. She felt safe here, like nothing and no one could hurt her and she didn't ever want to lose that feeling. He pulled away though and she sighed disappointedly as he settled back into the chair.

"Doctor says I can go home tomorrow." She said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to need your help Conn, you're going to have to be there for a while until I get my bearings."

"That's fine, that's fine." He replied.

He didn't have to give it a second thought, he would always be there for Abby.

"Things could get rough."

"I don't mind."

"Even if I'm a total bitch?"

"Well, I'm used to that." He joked.

She lashed out, missing him by inches, but she smiled.

"Someone was missing you."

He stood up and saw Abby's frown as he walked to the door. He closed it and, checking to make sure the window was closed, pulled a blanket off the pet carrier he had brought with him and opened the cage door.

Rex sniffed the air for a moment, his tongue darting out in different directions as his head moved from side to side. Then, seeming to pick up on a scent he liked, he crawled out and took flight, circling the room before landing on Abby and chirping loudly.

"Rex! How did you get here?" She asked.

"I brought him to see you." Connor whispered. "He can't stay long though cos I'll get into all kinds of trouble."

"Yes you will!" She admonished before going back to petting Rex.

Connor loved the way seeing Rex made Abby's face light up, ok, so she couldn't actually **see **him, but she could hear him and she could feel him and it seemed to have cheered her up quite considerably.

After a few more minutes, he caught the little lizard and placed him carefully back in his cage.

"I have to go now, visiting time is almost over." He informed her.

Seeing the look of fear on her face, he felt torn inside. He desperately wanted to stay with her all night, but he knew they wouldn't allow it.

"Here." He said, handing her something from a plastic bag he had brought with him.

"What is it?" She asked, running her fingertips over the soft furry object.

"It's Saurus."

"Your cuddly dinosaur thingy?"

"Yeah, he kept me company in hospital when I had my tonsils out."

"Connor . . . Wait, didn't you say you had your tonsils out when you were sixteen?" She chuckled.

"That's not important."

She laughed now, and it was good to hear.

"I can take him back if you're going to . . . "

"No, no, I'm sorry, it's a lovely idea Connor, thanks."

She clutched the toy to her chest, mirroring Connor's actions from a few days before and offered him her sweetest smile and he melted instantly.

As he looked at her, he realised that he was going to miss the way their gazes often locked, the way she would stare into his eyes. Now her gaze was slightly off, eyes staring somewhere into the distance as she spoke to him and his heart broke just a little bit more.

Connor kissed her head softly and said his goodbyes, promising to be there tomorrow to take her home. Then he was gone and she was alone. She held on tightly to the little stuffed dinosaur Connor had had since he was a small child, it smelled of him and it was strangely comforting.

As she settled down to try and get some much needed sleep, Abby couldn't believe she was sharing a bed with Saurus.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Blinded by Love, Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Primeval and it's characters belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Phew, this one is a MONSTER! A huge 4526 words!!! And all in one chapter. It took longer because it was **way** more challenging to fit all the great suggestions in. The ice-cream one came to me straight away, though the whole bit I wrote leading up to it could be a chapter in itself lol. I had a particularly hard time coming up with the Abby hearing the claw part, hope I managed to do it justice. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it, please let me know.

* * *

The next morning, Connor went to the supermarket to buy all the things Abby liked. The doctor's were letting her come home at 4pm and he wanted to make her a special dinner. The fact that he wasn't the worlds best cook hadn't escaped him, but how wrong could he go with pizza, chips and ice-cream?

He whizzed round the isles, picking up far more than he actually needed before finally coming to the frozen food section. A young blond -haired girl was clutching a pot of ice-cream and as he approached the freezer, he realised that it was the last one.

"Hi." He said to the girl.

She looked him up and down in disgust.

"Mum says I shouldn't talk to strange men."

"I'm not strange!" He replied, looking down at himself. "Am I?"

"You look a bit weird to me."

"I'm not, honestly, perfectly normal bloke, well, maybe not a hundred percent normal but . . ."

She stood frowning, one hand on her hip, the other still hanging on to the ice-cream.

"Anyway I was wondering, see, that ice-cream you've got there, my flat mate really likes it and she's not very well."

"And?" The girl replied rudely.

"**And**, I was wondering if I could have it?"

"Not likely! It's the last one."

"I know, that's why I'm asking really nicely if I could have it . . . Please?"

She looked to be deep in thought for a moment and lifted the pot of ice-cream up, scrutinising it. His hopes lifted, he was going to get the frozen desert!

"Nope." She said finally, turning and starting to walk away.

"Wait! I can make it worth your while."

She stopped and turned to look at him.

"I'm listening." She replied.

Connor spent three hours but after a heated conversation with one angry 11 year old and one bribe later, that last pint of blueberry ice cream, Abby's favourite, was his! Ok, so maybe he was exaggerating with the three hours thing, but still, it took quite a while.

Now with all that time spent at the supermarket, he had little time left to prepare. He rushed home, put all the shopping away and then continued with his furniture rearranging. He'd started it last night, moving things that they didn't really need and creating more space. His idea being that the more open space they had, the less Abby had to bump into. Connor had made sure that there was a clear path to the kitchen, the bathroom and the bedrooms from the lounge.

All the while, Rex flew around the room, landing on the furniture Connor was moving from time to time and regarding him strangely. What weird and wonderful things these humans did sometimes.

Connor just had time to jump into the shower before it was time to pick up Abby, changing into something more comfortable and spraying on a little after-shave. Then he was out the door and getting into the Mini.

His thoughts wandered for a moment as he contemplated the fact that Abby would no longer be able to drive; she loved her Mini. Things were going to be difficult for a while, but hopefully, with his help, Abby would come to terms with her new life.

He was startled from his reverie by a little snuffly sound coming from the back seat of the car. Connor turned to see one of his pet Diictodons sitting there looking at him.

"Sid! What're you doin here?"

If it was going to be any of their little monsters, it would be Sid; he was their resident escape artist. Connor was always chasing him around and getting into bother. He remembered what happened the last time Sid and Nancy were in a hospital.

"I don't think so mate." He chided, reaching back and grabbing the little creature.

Sid wriggled and protested, but Connor managed to get him back into the flat incident free and then he was off again, this time managing to start the car and make his way to the hospital.

* * *

Abby had asked the nurse if she could take a bath. It had been a couple of days since she'd had the chance to shower and frankly, she was starting to feel a bit disgusting. She was a naturally clean person, unlike Connor, and loved a nice hot shower every day, sometimes twice a day if they'd been out in the field and come back covered in something revolting - as they often did. She sighed as she soaked in the warm soapy water, there'd be no more of that for her now.

No more chasing anomalies and pre-historic or future creatures, no more helping Connor with his gadget's and gizmo's. Come to think of it, there would be no more of a lot of things; driving, watching Star Wars with Connor, reading - God, reading! She loved to read! She sniffled, wiping a tear from her cheek and then took a deep breath, pushing it all down. She couldn't dwell, didn't want to be one of those people who just sits there and feels sorry for themselves. That wasn't who she was, she was Abby Sarah Maitland and she was going to get on with her life.

She lay back, dipping her head under the water and washing the suds from her hair. When she came back up, bringing herself to a sitting position, she frowned. One of the things she was starting to notice over the last few days was that her other senses were beginning to become more heightened. She cocked her head to one side, listening intently. Abby swore she could hear Danny singing while she was bathing.

Shaking her head and thinking that she must be mistaken, she finished washing and then pulled the help cord, waiting for the nurse to come and help her out of the tub. Abby couldn't believe how humiliating this was, needing someone to help her get out of the bath and hand her a towel; it had almost put her off getting in. But then she had thought that if it wasn't the nurses helping her then it would be Connor when she got home and that had forced her into action. At least she could take comfort from the fact that once she had become used to her surroundings and knew where everything was, she could bathe or shower or maybe even cook without help.

When Abby got back to her room wrapped in her fluffy dressing gown, Connor was there waiting for her; she knew straight away.

"Connor." She greeted with a smile.

"How'd ya know I was here?" He asked, sounding puzzled.

"You're wearing the Joop I bought you for Christmas." She replied.

The nurse led her to the bed, helping her to sit down and then left.

"I brought you the clothes you asked for."

"Thanks."

Connor put a plastic bag down next to her and she felt around for it, emptying out the contents onto her knee and feeling each item carefully.

"Bet you were blushing when you went through my underwear drawer." She chuckled.

"Yeah," he admitted, his voice low. "You have some seriously kinky stuff in there."

"Hey! You weren't supposed to root around!"

"I didn't honest!" He sounded worried. "It s just kinda hard not to see ya know?"

He saw a brief saddened look cross her face and he could've kicked himself.

"God, Abby I'm sorry! I didn't mean . . .what I meant was . . ."

"Connor it's fine, honestly! You can't all be tiptoeing around me all the bloody time."

She really wished she could see his face, read his expression.

"Can you close the curtain while I get dressed?" She asked.

"Course I can."

He stood up and pulled the curtain around her bed and Abby began feeling her way through getting dressed. This was going to be interesting.

"I'm making dinner tonight." He said.

"Really? Wow! What are we having? Microwave meals?"

"Oi!"

"Sorry."

"Actually, we're having pizza and chips followed by Blueberry ice-cream."

"Mmmmm, Blueberry, my fave."

Connor smiled, he was suddenly **very **glad he had managed to procure the last pint of her favourite desert, even if it had cost him a tenner.

The curtain flew open suddenly and there stood Abby.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"How do I look?"

"Fine . . . Except."

"Except what?"

"Nothing, you look fine.

"Connor, no tiptoeing remember?"

He sighed loud enough that Abby heard him from the other side of the room and walked over to her.

"Your t-shirt is back to front."

"Oh." She said, sounding disheartened.

"It doesn't matter, you look fine."

"Can you . . . "

She didn't finish, again she felt the humiliation start to rise.

"Sure."

Connor grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt, there was no real need, she was perfectly capable of taking it off herself but she didn't stop him as he slid the garment up and over her head. She heard his sharp intake of breath and could feel the heat radiating from his body he was so close. There was something almost erotic about it, she imagined his face, flushed cheeks, that goofy glazed expression he got sometimes; she'd do anything to see it again.

"Are you . . . " Her voice cracked, betraying her arousal and she cleared her throat before continuing. "Are you going to put it back on? Or just stand there staring at me all day?"

He shook his head.

"Sorry, sorry."

Connor turned the shirt the right way round and then placed it back over her head, pulling it down over her body and she savoured every moment of his hands on her skin.

* * *

It had taken some time, but they had finally made it home. Abby had found it extremely difficult at first to walk, even though she was clinging to Connor. It was the whole relinquishing control thing that she had found hard. She trusted Connor implicitly, honestly she did; but there was just that little bit of her that couldn't let go and totally rely on him to guide her in the right direction.

Rex, Sid and Nancy were happy she was home, the Diictodon's skidding about the place like loons as Connor told her all about Sid's failed attempt to escape.

Abby tried to imagine what the flat looked like the last time she was here, though Connor had told her he had moved some things out so she had more space. As he went into the kitchen to start their meal, she began walking around slowly, feeling her way around. She was determined that she was going to be as independent as she had been before.

She kept bumping into things from time and was slowly becoming more and more frustrated.

"Argh!" She growled, as her elbow came into contact with something hard.

Connor rushed in and she could feel his presence behind her.

"Abby what's wrong?"

"This isn't going to work!" She said, lashing out angrily at the object that had caused her injury.

"Well I can't move it Abbs, it's a wall."

She spun around to face him, her expression fierce and Connor winced.

"You think this is funny Connor? Is this all some big joke to you?"

"What? No! God, Abby!"

He was horrified at the mere suggestion, her blindness broke his heart, tore away at his very soul. He hadn't stopped thinking of all the things she'd never see; the way she'd look one day in her wedding dress, the faces of her children and her grandchildren. He should tell her this, but he was rendered speechless.

Connor reached for her hand and pulled it up to inspect it. There were bruises forming on her knuckles where she had hit the wall in frustration, he kissed them softly and saw the anger flow out of her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I know you don't think that."

"It's ok." He replied, unable to hide the hurt from his voice.

"Connor please, I'm sorry." She repeated.

"I know, I told you, don't worry about it, it's fine."

He sounded more convincing this time, after all, he knew all this was extremely difficult for her, she had a lot to come to terms with.

"It's not fine! I wish . . . I wish I could see your face."

So much was hidden to her now, she couldn't read his expression, or his body language.

Connor lifted her other hand, stepping closer and placing both her hands on his face. She gasped at the sudden intimacy.

"Use your other senses." He said softly.

Abby gently traced the contours of his face with her fingertips. She started at the top, trailing along his brow, slightly moist from the heat of cooking. Then she let her fingers drift lower, feeling his eyebrows, the soft skin of his upper eyelids and then swept to the sides and to his cheeks, feather light touches up and down, a finger dipping into the dimples she loved so much. She smiled and felt his face move beneath her touch. She drifted lower still, reaching his lips which were now curled into a smile which mirrored her own.

Connor couldn't believe how much of a turn on this was, it was beyond amazing having her touch him like this. It was so intimate and she was just as beautiful up close as she was from afar, he'd always known that, but he didn't get the opportunity to be this close to her very often. Her eyebrows didn't look so bad now and Sarah had drawn them on thicker for her with an eyebrow pencil. Her burns were beginning to heal too, now just little pink patches of peeling skin that looked like she'd been in the sun too long. The whites of her eyes were actually almost white again, but the blue didn't sparkle quite so much as it used to; slightly cloudy now from all the scarring.

"You shaved." She stated.

"Yep."

"I like it when you're all stubbly, looks kinda sexy."

Oh God had she said that out loud?

Connor made a funny little squeaking sound.

She **had **said it out loud, shit! She pulled her hands away quickly, feeling suddenly awkward.

"I . . . I'll grow it back." He stuttered nervously.

And Abby smiled in spite of herself.

"What's that smell?" She asked, sniffing the air.

"Oh crap, dinner!"

Connor ran back into the kitchen to rescue the pizza and Abby felt her way back into the lounge, managing to sit down on the sofa which, luckily, Connor hadn't moved. Ten minutes later, he brought in the food, apologising for the crispy edges and they ate in a comfortable silence.

"I'm going to go to bed." Abby announced when they had finished their meal.

She wasn't exhausted, but felt like there was nothing better to do, normally she would have curled up on the sofa and watched telly with Connor but now . . . She supposed she could listen, but she wasn't in the mood.

"Ok." Connor replied, jumping up. "Do you want . . ."

She put her hand up to stop him.

"I'm **fine!**"

He put his hands up in surrender and sat back down, watching her slowly make her way to her room. He wished she would let him help her, but he knew that she needed to do things for herself.

* * *

_The room was dark and she searched everywhere to find a light switch, feeling her way along cold and unfamiliar walls. Finally she found one and flipped it but nothing happened. She heard a snarl from somewhere in the room and her heart began to pound in her chest. She stumbled, bumping into something cold and hard and felt around, realising it was a table. As she explored with her fingertips, she discovered that sitting on top of the table was Connor's laser cannon; she must be in his lab at the ARC. Abby heard the click of claw on concrete. She picked up the laser gun and turned toward the sound. A terrifying shriek filled the room and she screamed._

"Hey, hey, it's ok Abby."

She awoke to find herself enveloped in Connor's arms and she sank against him in relief.

"That must have been some nightmare." He whispered against her hair.

He went to pull away and Abby clutched him tighter, things were so much scarier now she knew that she would never be able to switch the light on again to chase the monsters away.

"Don't go." She begged, still breathless from her dream.

"You want me to stay?" He asked incredulously

She nodded.

"I'll go get my sleeping bag and a pillow."

"Why?"

"You don't expect me to sleep on the cold hard floor do you?"

"No, I expect you to sleep in bed with me." She replied matter-of-factly.

Connor swallowed.

"Oh . . . Erm . . . **Your** bed?"

"Yes Connor, **my** bed. What's the problem? I'm not going to bite you and drink all you blood while you sleep you know."

"I know, I know."

She lay her head on the pillow, relaxed in the knowledge that Connor was with her and she was safe. She waited for the dip of the mattress to tell her that Connor had joined her, but it never came.

"Connor!" She growled.

"Hmm?" He mumbled, sounding distracted.

"Lay down and go to sleep!"

"Oh, yeah, I am."

Abby felt him move and lay beside her, she reached out to make sure he was there and not just a figment of her imagination.

"Connor for God sake, will you relax!"

"I am relaxed."

"No you're not, you're as stiff as a board! Look, we're just two mates sleeping in the same bed ok?"

"Yeah, just too mates sharing, hmm, yeah, nothing wrong with that, it's great, brilliant . . . Friendly." He rambled, sounding way too enthusiastic about the situation.

Abby snorted, he really was ridiculous sometimes.

"Connor, go to sleep."

"Ok." He replied dreamily.

* * *

Abby awoke the next day to find the space beside her empty, she heard voices drifting from downstairs and got up, finding the clothes she had asked Connor to get out for her the night before and getting dressed.

It was Saturday morning and Abby came downstairs to find Connor in front of the TV watching cartoons. She could tell they were cartoons from the silly voices and noises.

"Connor, what **are **you watching?"

"Marvin the Martian, it's a classic!"

"I'll take your word for it." She chuckled.

"Had to chase the bad dreams away didn't I? All that mention of you drinking my blood had me dreaming I was a vampire, big bat wings and everything."

Abby laughed now.

"You dreamt you could fly? Sounds alright to me."

"No it was horrible, I was flying around and killing all my mates just cos I was a bit thirsty." He shuddered.

"Two words for you Connor 'get help' as in the professional kind."

"It was all your fault anyway, nothing wrong with my marbles."

"Whatever Connor."

She smiled, making her way to the kitchen slowly, intent on getting a glass of water for herself. She found a glass relatively quickly, they were still on the draining board from the night before. Abby tried to remember as she reached for the tap which was the cold. It was amazing how many things she had always taken for granted, simple things such as knowing hot from cold and being able to put her t-shirt on the right way round.

Abby grabbed a tap, deciding on trial and error but as her hand came into contact with the cool metal, she noticed something different. There was a roughness to the top and she ran her fingers across it, smiling when she felt a 'C' shape made of what felt like sandpaper.

"Connor?" She called.

"Yeah?" He shouted from the living room.

"Come here a minute."

She waited till she heard his footsteps enter the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Nothing. Come closer."

He shuffled forward.

"Closer." She said again.

She reached out and he seemed to understand because he stepped forward again until her hands came into contact with his chest. Abby moved, filling the space between them and her hands wandered up to his face, her thumb grazing his bottom lip before she reached up and kissed him. It was a fleeting but incredibly tender kiss which left Connor feeling utterly bewildered and more than a little flustered.

"W . . . w . . . what was that for?" He stammered.

"That Connor Temple was for being the most amazing bloke on the planet!" She exclaimed, her hands now back on his chest.

"Oh." He replied, sounding dazed. "Wait, **really**? Why"

He didn't understand women and doubted he would **ever **understand the enigma that was Abby Maitland. Sure would have fun trying though.

"You put hot and cold stickers on the taps for me."

"OH!" He exclaimed, finally getting it, though not entirely getting why that deserved a kiss.

"And, you spent ages moving furniture around and cooked me dinner and kept me company after I'd had a bad dream and . . . and . . . "

She started to sniff, her eyes filling with tears.

"Heeey, don't cry Abbs, it's ok." He soothed, pulling her to him. "It's the least I could do, after all, if it wasn't for me . . . "

"Don't Connor, it's not your fault, we've been over this."

She pulled away slightly and he looked down at her, wishing he could feel her lips on his once more.

"Is that why you did it? Because you feel guilty?" She asked.

It wasn't an accusation, she just needed to know, she didn't want him to feel obligated to look after her through guilt."

"No Abby, not at all! I'm doing it because . . . because . . . I care about you."

She nodded, that was the right reason.

"I love you don't I?" He added quietly.

Her heart fluttered in her chest and she felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

"I don't know, do you?"

He'd said it once before, but it had never been repeated, even when she had asked.

"Course I do, you're my best mate."

"Mates." She repeated, disappointed he had taken the easy option again.

"You make me laugh."

"That's what 'mates' do," She replied sarcastically.

"Sometimes make me cry."

Abby had no idea where his ramblings were headed.

"When we're at work, I know you've always got my back."

She gave a nervous laugh, that was never going to happen again.

"You listen, you were the first girl to listen to me - apart from my mum."

She snorted.

"I'm a better person because I know you, not so nervous and nerdy, think about others before myself."

"Connor . . ."

"You're beautiful too, even when you're covered in mud and your mascara is smeared down your face."

"Connor . . ."

"I love you Abby, I really do."

She choked on a sob, clutching at the fabric of his shirt.

"Connor I . . ."

She didn't get the chance to finish, this time it was Connor who leaned in and kissed her, this one lasting far longer than the first.

******

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Blinded by Love chapter 4

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Smut, language, angst, hurt/comfort

Disclaimer: Primeval and it's characters belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Abby lay comfortably on the sofa with her head on Connor's lap. He had been watching Star Trek: Voyager re-runs on the TV but was now snoring softly. She could hear Captain Janeway's voice blabbering on to some alien race but she wasn't really listening. She was concentrating on Connor; finding the sounds he was making strangely soothing.

They had kissed in the kitchen the day before until their mouths went numb and their legs ached but they hadn't taken it any further. Abby had wanted to take it further and she suspected that Connor had too, but it just didn't feel like the right time. There was so much going on in her head at the moment, too much, and she just needed to deal with some things first, needed to know that what she and Connor had shared was real and not just something borne out of a need for comfort.

Connor stirred in his sleep whimpering an "Abby" Softly and she smiled.

He had told her he loved her, true he had said it once before but this time had seemed more real. She hadn't returned the gesture, to be honest she hadn't really had the opportunity what with all the snogging but she doubted she would have anyway. She knew she loved him, but she had never totally trusted her instincts, they hadn't served her well in the past and sometimes what she thought was love had in fact turned out to be lust.

She thought back to her previous relationships, as a teenager she hadn't really been girlfriend material. She was the weirdo at school, the lizard girl who wore strange clothes and most boys her age were afraid of her. Her first proper boyfriend had been two years older than her - a big gap when you're just fifteen. She had felt pressured into sleeping with him, thinking she would lose him if she didn't 'do it'. In the end she lost him because she did. She hadn't trusted anyone for a while after that, her next relationship was with a bloke in one of her classes at Uni. They'd been going out for six months when she found him with another woman - one of her so-called friends, not long after, she got offered the job at the zoo and dropped out of school so luckily she didn't have to face him again.

After two terrible relationships, she had stuck to dates here and there, not really fancying anyone until Stephen came along. Then she had thought maybe, just maybe she was ready to trust someone again, she'd really liked him. Lucky for her she found out early on that he was a potential two-timer, it was then that she had decided that her taste in men was bad for her health.

When she met Connor however, they had become immediate friends. That had never happened before with a bloke, sure she had guy friends but that was because they were her friends boyfriends at one time or another or they were workmates who she had gotten to know over time. Upon meeting her for the first time, guys tended to be sleazy, fancy her and leer at her. Connor had fancied her, that much was obvious, but there was a certain innocence about him that was endearing.

She remembered being surprised by how good Connor holding her had felt back when he had saved her from the Mososaur. Even then, when they hardly knew one another, he had protected her from harm, made her feel safe. He still made her feel safe now, always thought of her, put up with her sarcasm and moods and now . . . now he was moving heaven and earth to make her life as close to normal as it had been before her accident.

Abby pushed herself up to a seated position and poked Connor on the arm.

"Connor, wake up."

"Mmmm, five more minutes." He groaned.

"Connor!" She said more firmly, elbowing him now.

"Put the kettle on, I'll be down in a minute." He mumbled in his sleep.

"CONNOR!" She shouted.

She heard him scrabble about and jump up suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

He looked down at her in confusion, taking a moment to remember where he was.

Abby felt around for him and he sat back down on the sofa.

"Abby?"

"You fell asleep."

"Sorry." He replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I love you." She blurted before she had a chance to change he mind.

Connor was startled by her admission, he was still half asleep and wondered if he had missed something.

"Umm, ok."

"I love you!" She repeated.

"Yeah, you said that."

"Connor!" She sounded annoyed now, which confused him even more. "I **love** you."

"Abbs, are you ok? I mean, did you have a bad dream or . . ."

She huffed and stood, putting her hands out in front of her to prevent her from banging into anything and began making her way to her room.

"Abby?"

"I'm going to bed."

Now she sounded really angry and Connor needed to make it right, if only he knew what it was that he'd done wrong.

All Abby had needed was to hear him say it back, hear him say those three words to her again to reassure her that she had made the right choice this time, fallen for the right man. It was irrational but she needed it just the same. Without her sight the world was a different place, it was difficult to assess his reaction to her admission, was he pleased? Had he smiled? Or was he scared?

Connor followed her, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around.

"Please Abby, don't be mad with me sweetheart, I was asleep, I think I missed something just . . ."

He broke off, caressing her cheek and she leaned into the touch, then she felt his lips brush hers softly and she melted.

"Words are all I have now Conn, I can't read your body language or your expressions, I feel so lost."

He pulled her to him, stroking her back and kissing the top of her head.

"I needed you to know that I love you Connor . . . "

"I know you love me Abbs."

"I also needed you to say it back."

"God! Abby, I can be so dense sometimes! I love you, you know I love you, I always have and I always will."

He watched as her face lit up with a watery smile.

"I'm smiling Abby." He whispered. "I'm smiling because you make me so happy, because **you** . . . Love **me.**"

Her smile grew wider and a few tears fell, she reached up to trace his smile with her fingertips and in that moment, Abby was so happy, she forgot her blindness, forgot all her worries and fears for the future and just let go. Connor pulled her hands away, leaning forward to capture her lips in a searing kiss. When they finally broke apart, gasping for breath, Abby knew that this was the right time.

"Connor," She whispered. "Make love to me."

She heard a strange sound come from somewhere deep within him and then her world spun as he put one arm around her shoulders and one under her knees, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to the bedroom.

Connor lay her gently on the bed and covered her body with his, smothering her with kisses.

"Wait!" She said, pulling away from him reluctantly. "I need to feel what you look like."

Connor was confused again, but pushed himself up.

"Take off your clothes and lay on the bed beside me." She instructed.

He did as was ordered, feeling a little embarrassment creeping in as he joined her on the bed - totally naked.

"Tell me how you're feeling." Abby whispered.

"Cold?"

"Connor!" She scolded, climbing on top of him carefully.

He had to remind himself to breathe at the sight of her sitting there, pulling her shirt over her head to reveal her white lacy bra.

"I . . . I'm getting warmer." He stuttered.

She chuckled.

"We're not playing hide and seek Conn!"

"I'm nervous." He blurted.

Her face turned serious then and she ran her hands down his chest causing him to shiver.

"Why?"

"Because I am."

"That's not a reason, there's nothing to be nervous about Connor." She reassured him.

He took a deep breath.

"Because . . . it's my first time."

He'd whispered it softly, but Abby's heightened senses meant she heard him clearly. She smiled warmly at him, she loved him even more for his honesty.

"It's not yours." He stated, already knowing that a woman as beautiful as Abby would have men queuing up to go out with her.

"It's my first time with you." She said. "And it's the first time I've felt like **this **with anybody."

"Like what?"

"Friendship, love, **trust**. I trust you with my heart and my life Connor, I've never felt that before."

Connor took her hand and placed it over his heart, holding it flat against his skin. She could feel his rapid heartbeat, it felt as though it was trying to burst from his chest.

"You do that to me every time you touch me." He admitted.

Abby kept her hand there a few moments longer until his grip on her loosened and then she began a slow and steady journey over his body, tracing every contour, every scar he had accumulated from their years of dinosaur chasing. She took time to feel every hair on his chest, his 'innie' belly button, the slight curve of muscles on his arms and then she went back to his face, moving her head down to kiss him softly.

"Abby." He moaned. "If you keep this up then I'm going to embarrass myself."

"You wouldn't embarrass yourself Connor, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, just let go."

He held her head firmly, looking into her damaged but beautiful eyes and he brought her to him, kissing each lid. He heard her gasp at the sensation and he wiped away a stray tear from her cheek as it fell.

"They're still beautiful you know."

Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What are?"

"Your eyes, they're still beautiful."

Abby choked back a sob and leaned in to kiss him again, missing his mouth at first and catching his cheek instead, not that it had any less of an impact.

"Connor I . . . "

She was interrupted by him rolling her onto her back, reversing their positions.

"My turn." He whispered.

He helped her to remove the last of her clothing, a satisfied sigh escaping his lips at finally having all of her revealed to him, then he felt guilty for being able to look at her when she couldn't do the same. Connor closed his eyes tight, running his hands all over her body and committing each and every inch of skin to memory. He was surprised at how amazing it felt to rely completely on his sense of touch, he decided that his fingers shouldn't have to do all the work though and replaced them with his mouth instead, starting with her head, working his way down to her neck and collar bone before coming to a stop at her breasts momentarily to pay them special attention.

"Feels good." She moaned, as he took a nipple into his mouth.

This was truly heaven on earth, the sensations he was causing, the anticipation building as he left no area of her body untouched, even stopping to kiss each knee. Connor moved back up her body slowly, giving it the same care and attention on the way up as he had down. This time though, as his lips reached her breasts again, he let one finger drift down to the apex of her thighs, gently caressing her with feather light touches that left her aching for more.

Connor was taking things slowly, taking his time to savour each second. This was how he had imagined their first time to be, not frenzied and rushed but calm and loving. It was true that he felt like he could blow at any second, but Abby had reassured him that it was ok.

The finger that had been brushing softly against her opening now pushed its way in slowly, not stopping until it was completely enveloped within her. She gasped at the sensation, waiting for him to move, but the finger stayed motionless as his lips travelled up her body to capture her mouth once more.

Abby had to admit there were certain advantages to her heightened sense of touch. Her other senses too were hyper-aware; she could smell him, the faint hint of aftershave, the soap he used to wash himself and the rest that was just . . . him. She could taste him too, he tasted of orange juice and something else that she couldn't quite pinpoint but that she guessed was probably just Connor. She could hear her heart pounding, maybe his as well and each smack of their lips, wet slurping sounds that she had never noticed when kissing a guy before. And his touch, his touch was driving her crazy, but in the best possible way. Even now, with his finger remaining still whilst he kissed her thoroughly, she thought that she would eventually come from that alone.

Then his finger moved, it was almost like slow motion as he pulled it all the way out before thrusting it back in just as slowly. She gasped and bit his bottom lip as the pleasure overtook her. When he pulled his finger out a second time, he replaced it with two and Abby couldn't prevent the moan that escaped her lips. His mouth had moved to the pulse point of her neck now, sucking and licking, causing her to whimper and writhe around on the bed.

She had never been brought so close so quickly before, she could feel herself falling, the familiar coiling low in her belly as her orgasm approached and then his fingers were gone, leaving her feeling empty and frustrated. She must have pouted, because she heard his chuckle, felt it too.

"Please." She begged.

She couldn't believe that was her voice, sounding wrecked and needy and begging, she didn't beg, it just wasn't something she did. Abby moved her hand down, feeling her way to his hard-on, deciding that some payback was in order but before she could reach her goal he moved. She immediately missed the heat of his body and shivered at the loss but suddenly his mouth was where his fingers had been, lapping at her folds gently and she gasped, letting out a deep throaty moan.

"Oh yes!" She exclaimed.

She had been close already, all it would take was a little more pressure, pressure which he wouldn't give. He was tasting her, pulling away after each lick to blow softly on her heated flesh and it was the most exquisite torture she had ever experienced. Abby was quickly becoming impatient though, her desire for release so powerful that she moved her hand down in an attempt to bring herself the orgasm she so desperately required.

Connor had other ideas, grabbing her wrists and holding them to the bed as he continued his ministrations.

"Please Connor!"

She growled her frustration, pushing herself up against him.

"What do you want Abby?" He whispered against her skin.

"Please!" She sobbed.

"Tell me."

Tell him what? Her arousal fogged mind had little room in it for any higher thought process. This was all so intense, why was it so intense? Abby didn't understand, it had never been this good before, she wasn't sure if it was her heightened senses or the fact that she and Connor had so much pent up sexual tension coiled up inside them. Maybe it was a bit of both, but she sure wasn't going to complain. His tongue moved up, swirling around her clit to tease her before moving back to it's earlier task.

"Oh! Connor please."

"Tell me what you want."

"I want you to make me come Connor . . . Please!"

Connor doubled his efforts, tongue swirling and licking, fingers probing until Abby was reduced to a gibbering wreck. One hand grabbed his hair, pulling so hard that he was sure she'd pulled some out and the other grabbed the sheets, twisting them in her fingers. He sucked on her clit hard and she screamed, a wonderful sound that he stored in his memory and then she was shuddering around him, her internal muscles clamping down on his fingers.

"Oh God, oh yes, oh Connor yes!"

He couldn't quite believe he had evoked that reaction in her and sat up to watch the different emotions and expressions play across her face. Now he **knew **he wasn't going to last long after that little display. He moved up, covering her body with his again as he guided himself into her opening. He took a moment to look at her eyes once more, wishing with every fibre of his being that she could look back into his as he entered her. He wiped away his tears, now wasn't the time for his heart to break, he had more important things to concentrate on.

"I love you." He whispered, his voice betraying his emotions.

Abby reached a hand up to his cheek and felt the wetness there, a look of concern crossing her features.

"It's ok." He assured her. "This is just really intense."

"Yeah." She agreed.

And it really was, Connor had wanted this since the moment he met her. The context had changed in the time he had gotten to know her, in the beginning he had just wanted her naked in any conceivable scenario but he had felt an immediate spark between them. He'd never really spoken to a girl before, unless you counted his teachers and professors at University. Girls his age would taunt him, call him a geek or a freak or something equally cruel. Abby would talk to him, listen to him and even watch his favourite sci-fi shows, even though she didn't really like them.

Connor's whole body shuddered as he finally moved within her, he closed his eyes and let the sensation overwhelm him, the sensation of being inside a woman, of being inside Abby, the woman he loved and cared about more than anything in the world.

"Oh God, I'm really not going to last." He gasped apologetically.

"Shhh, it's ok, don't worry." She soothed.

He opened his eyes and looked down at her, her face was flushed, eyes screwed shut now, teeth biting down on her lower lip and her head thrown back with each gentle thrust. Connor held his breath, hoping that this moment would last forever, this was their first time together and he had to make it special. He kissed her softly on her lips, chin and neck as he continued his slow and steady movements within her, moving a hand down to where they were joined to let his finger drift around her clit in lazy circles.

"Oh!" She moaned.

His mouth moved to her ear, sucking on the lobe.

"Come for me Connor."

He growled, using every inch of his willpower not to follow her command.

"Not yet." He ground out. "Not before you."

"But I've . . . Ah!"

She was silenced as he pinched her clit hard, overwhelmed by the pleasure/pain, she thrust her pelvis up to meet his causing him to moan in a way that told her he was very close.

Connor ran a hand down one leg, lifting it high into the air and altering the angle.

"Abby!" He moaned.

He moved his hand back to her clit, creating a steady rhythm that left her whimpering.

"Please." She begged. "I can't, not again."

She wanted to come again, god how she wanted to, but she was still so sensitive from before, the sensations were almost too much to bear. Abby just wanted to feel him come inside her, that would be enough, more than enough.

Connor didn't stop his ministrations however, he moved his head down, sucking on a nipple, grazing it with his teeth. He was beginning to lose control of his thrusts now, every now and then the gentleness would be replaced by the wild bucking of his hips only for him to take a deep breath and regain control once more.

Abby touched the tops of his arms, feeling the muscles there taught under the strain, she listened to his breathing, coming in short sharp pants, the occasional moan escaping his lips which added to her own arousal. His smell now had mingled with hers and she found it incredibly erotic, it wasn't him and her any more, it was them, they were one, moving together, bodies slick with sweat. She pulled his head to hers to taste him again and then she was taken by surprise, a sudden intense pleasure taking over her whole body.

"Connor."

She clutched him tightly against her, the ferocity of her second orgasm overtaking her, she felt him emptying himself inside her and it added to the sensation.

"Abby."

It was all either of them could manage as they clung to one another, but it was all that was needed.

The minutes stretched out as they lay there together in silence, regaining their composure and getting their breathing under control. Eventually, Connor rolled off Abby, moving down the bed to pull the blanket up over them and pulled her to his side. She went willingly, snuggling up to him and closing her eyes sleepily.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Connor could hardly believe that she was thanking him for having sex with her, he didn't know people did that.

"Thank **you.!**" He replied sincerely.

He was the one who should be thankful, for he was surely the luckiest man in the world right now.

Her arm moved up to lay across his chest and he felt her smile against his skin.

"Anytime." She chuckled. "Goodnight."

Anytime? Was she serious? He could now have sex whenever he wanted? This was beyond cool.

"Night." He said softly.

Abby mumbled incoherently and he smirked, she was already asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Abby awoke in the same position, curled against Connor.

"Mornin." He greeted, running his fingers through her hair affectionately.

"Hey."

"You must have been tired last night."

"I was, what time is it?" She asked, yawning and stretching her body out.

"It's half past eleven."

Abby was taken aback, she never slept later than nine usually.

"Must have been all that physical exertion yesterday." She said, grinning at the memory.

It was the memory of their physical exertions last night that had woken a usually late sleeping Connor up at half nine in the morning. He had been hard since he woke, stroking himself gently while she slept. He hadn't wanted to get up for fear of waking her and so by now his erection was almost painful. It was almost as though Abby sensed this, reaching down to hold him with her soft hand, caressing his shaft and rubbing her thumb gently over the tip.

Connor groaned, thrusting into her hand.

Abby pushed herself up, moving to sit atop him, guiding him to her opening and sliding down with ease. It took Connor's breath away and he dug his fingers into the flesh of her backside. She began to move, slowly at first as she got used to being filled by him but then she sped up, no finesses in her movement as she worked to bring him release.

Connor grabbed her hips, trying to slow her down, he couldn't take this for long. She leant down, whispering in his ear.

"It's ok, this is for you, all for you."

Oh God he truly **was** the luckiest man in the world! This woman was amazing, and she loved **him, **wanted **him.** there was no going back now, no stopping his impending orgasm, he was too close, had brought himself too close too many times already this morning and now here she was, riding him, naked and gloriously beautiful.

Connor pulled her to him, holding her close as he came inside her. He was **so **going to pay her back in kind later and he would enjoy every second of it.

* * *

The two weeks of Connor being home passed by quickly, too quickly as he helped Abby to adapt to a life in darkness. He had installed software onto their computer so that she could use it, helped her to begin to learn simple words in Braille and labelled food and cleaning products so that she knew what things were. Abby had learnt the layout of the flat inside out and had even stopped bumping into things so much.

Connor had stalled for time, calling in other experts here and there to maintain the Arc's computer systems but ultimately, the call came, the call from James Lester not to be ignored, he was needed at the Arc and he had to go.

As he left the flat, kissing Abby softly and listening to her assurances that she would be fine until he got back, Connor felt a sense of dread. He had never left her alone before, what if something happened? What if there was a fire or a flood or an earthquake. Realising he was being irrational, he gave her one last quick kiss, promising he would be home as soon as possible and left, turning to watch her wave at the doorway. He waited by the car until he saw her close the door and then got in, started the engine and drove, with a heavy heart, to his place of work.

* * *

Abby pottered around the flat for a couple of hours, she fed the animals, made a cup of tea and listened to the radio to try and keep her mind off the eerie silence. Sid and Nancy were asleep in their basket after keeping Connor awake half the night with their antics and Rex, having just had his dinner, was probably somewhere in the rafters, basking in the sunshine.

She wished she could see it again; the sun, watch it rise or fall, she'd never really appreciated it before. She could feel it, streaming in through the large windows and shining on her face.

Abby was startled from her reverie by the shrill tones of the phone ringing. She felt her way to the base, but when she got there the phone wasn't in it's usual place. There were definitely disadvantages to having a cordless telephone. She tried to follow the sound it was making, but it was confusing because the base unit rang as well as the hand device and she stumbled, falling and hurting her knee on the wooden floor.

The phone rang off and she sat on the floor, checking her injured knee with her fingers for blood but didn't find any, she suspected it was just bruised and pulled herself up, sitting on the sofa. The phone started ringing again and she growled in frustration. A thought suddenly struck her, what if it was Connor, what if he needed to speak to her and was worrying because she didn't answer? What if it was the Arc and Connor had had an accident?

Abby started gasping for breath, hyperventilating. She needed to hear his voice, just hear his voice. The phone seemed to ring louder, taunting her, laughing at her. She began to sob, coughing and spluttering as she fought for air. She dropped down from the sofa, crawling on her hands and knees to the bathroom, just making it to the toilet in time to vomit up what was left of her breakfast.

Her breathing seemed to calm, but she sat there hugging her knees, shaking and wishing for all the world that Connor would just come home.

* * *

"She's not answering the phone." Connor told Sarah and Danny, sounding worried.

"I'm sure she's fine Connor." Sarah reassured. "Probably just having a bath and couldn't get to the phone in time."

"She had a shower this morning."

"Maybe she's sleeping then?" She offered.

Connor shook his head, he had a bad feeling.

"Something's wrong, I know it is."

He looked at Danny imploringly and Danny placed a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Do what you have to do, we can finish up here." He said.

He nodded, turning on his heels and running to the car as fast as his legs could carry him. Everything might be fine, but Connor couldn't rest until he knew for sure.

* * *

"Abby?" He called as he entered the flat, locking it behind him.

There was no answer, so he called again, louder this time.

"Connor."

Her voice sounded weak and quiet.

"Abbs?"

His voiced was edged with concern now as he went further into the room, searching for her.

"Connor!"

She was louder now and sounded desperate.

"Connor."

He followed the sound of her voice, meeting her at the bathroom door where her hands came into contact with his chest and then she threw her arms around him, relief washing over her as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Oh Abby, what's wrong love?"

Her face was pale and clammy, cheeks stained with tears and judging by the smell in the room, she had been sick recently.

"I don't know." She sobbed.

Connor stroked her hair, holding her tighter.

"The phone rang and I couldn't find it and then I tripped and fell and then the phone rang and then I . . . couldn't breathe and . . ."

"Shh, it's ok I'm here now."

He lifted her, carrying her to their room and laying her down, kneeling on the floor beside her and continuing to stroke her hair. He whispered words of comfort to her until she finally calmed down, squeezing his hand as though she was afraid he would go somewhere.

"I'm sorry." She said eventually.

"Don't be silly, this is all my stupid fault, it was me who called to check you were ok."

"I don't know what happened, I'm so pathetic."

"No you're not Abbs, you had a panic attack."

"A panic attack?" She whispered.

She didn't have panic attacks, she was strong and independent. A herd of prehistoric Rhino's didn't scare her, neither did a flock of Terror birds or a few Raptor's. Sure they'd had her worried there for a second, but they hadn't given her panic attacks.

"Yeah, I used to have them when I was in small confined spaces, a bit claustrophobic."

"We've been in small confined spaces lots of times, I've never seen you have a panic attack."

"That's because I was with you, I'm never afraid when I'm with you."

She smiled weakly, realising what a calming effect his presence was having on her.

"Me neither." She replied.

"I'm going to go into the kitchen and get you a glass of water ok?"

Abby nodded, releasing her death grip on his hand and he went into the kitchen, returning moments later, as promised.

As she sat up in bed sipping her water, Connor sitting beside her deep in thought, she wondered what the future would hold for her. Would she have these so called panic attacks again? The one she had today was pretty severe, she wasn't sure she wanted to go through that again. As if her loss of sight wasn't enough to deal with, now she had this too.

"I'm going to quit." Connor said suddenly.

"What?"

"I'm going to quit my job at the Arc."

"Connor no!"

"I am, you need me here and I can still do some things for them at home, just no more creature hunting."

"No Connor, I won't let you." She stated matter-of-factly. "You love your work, I can't take that away from you."

"I love you more Abby and I'd rather lose my job than lose you."

"It means a lot that you would sacrifice so much for me Connor, but it's not going to happen. I'm going to get over this, I'm going to be just as independent as I was before, I'm going to teach myself how to do things differently and then I'm going to go back to work."

If anything, his offer to quit his job had fuelled her determination.

Connor smiled, there was a glimpse of his old Abby, always ready to fight for what she wants.

* * *

Six weeks later and things were almost returning to normal. Abby had worked hard to teach herself Braille and the Arc had provided her with a special laptop so that she could type. It helped that she already had a typing qualification and so pretty much knew each key from memory. But Connor's software would read it back to her so that she could check for mistakes and he had even tweaked the program to read it in her voice so that she didn't have to listen to the monotonous tones of the computer.

She had had a couple more panic attacks, but none as bad as the first. Connor had taught her his method of calming herself with deep breathing exercises and thinking of her happy place, which had reminded her of a time when she had asked him to think of his.

Abby pulled back from her laptop at the Arc, stretching her arms. She had been writing a report on the mating rituals of a prehistoric monitor lizard. A couple of them had come through an anomaly and laid some eggs which was a cause for concern. She heard the doors open and voices which she was able to distinguish as Becker and Danny.

"Where's Connor?" She asked.

"He's in the infirmary." Becker replied.

"WHAT?"

"Don't worry Abby, he's fine." Danny reassured, elbowing Becker in the ribs. "Just got a small cut on his arm, doesn't even need proper stitches, just a few steri-strips."

He watched as she visibly relaxed and scowled at Becker, who by now was looking rather sheepish.

Abby stood and reached for her cane, using it to prevent her from bumping into the many machines and wires around the building.

"Here." Danny said, taking her arm. "I'll take you down."

She smiled at him, taking his offer of help gladly. It was something she had found difficult to come to terms with at first - accepting the help of others. But she was coming to the realisation that sometimes she just had to swallow her pride and get on with it.

"Thanks."

They walked slowly down the vast white corridors of the Arc, finally arriving at their destination. Danny suppressed a chuckle at the sight of Connor bent over a bed receiving a needle in his bum.

"Ow!" He complained. "I think you take far too much pleasure in inflicting pain."

The nurse on duty, a large woman with short curly brown hair, glared at him over the top of her thick rimmed glasses and Connor looked suddenly frightened.

"What's going on?" Abby asked.

"Hey Abbs!" Connor greeted, coming towards her.

Danny let go of her arm and said his goodbyes as Connor gave Abby a hug.

"Evil nurse just gave me a tetanus injection, cut my arm on a rusty piece of metal didn't I."

Abby chuckled, imagining him getting his injection, he was Connor, so naturally he was afraid of needles.

"Come on," She said, pulling him towards the door. "Let's go home I'm starving."

Connor went willingly and together they made their way home in the Mini, stopping on the way for take-out.

******************

"I'm sorry I didn't get to that ironing Abby." Connor called from the kitchen as he cleaned the dishes. "I was chased by a Velociraptor today, you wouldn't want me to get eaten would you?"

She laughed, walking to the kitchen door.

"And exactly how would you doing the ironing get you eaten by a Velociraptor Connor?"

"You never know, it's quite a big pile. I could have exhausted myself doing the ironing and then I wouldn't have been able to get away."

Abby shook her head, finding him at the sink and putting her arms around his waist. Just then, there was a knock at the door, she couldn't imagine who would be there so late in the evening. She pulled away, leaving Connor to the pots and went to answer the door.

"Hello?" She called.

There was no answer, but she could hear shuffling on the other side and then what sounded like . . . No, couldn't be surely. She opened the door and felt a burning sensation on her face, then her consciousness dissolved into nothingness.

In the kitchen, Connor heard a thud.

"Abby?"

No answer.

"Abbs who is it?"

Nothing.

He made his way to the door, startled to see her on the floor, the door wide open.

"Abby!" He cried, running to her side and stroking her face.

He checked her breathing and pulse, both seemed ok.

"C'mon Abbs, talk to me baby."

He shook her gently and she groaned. Connor heaved a sigh of relief as she began to come round.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me, you came to answer the door, I found you unconscious."

"I remember . . ." She held her head, forcing herself to sit up, she had an amazing headache. "I remember coming to the door and hearing a sound, I opened it then . . . Nothing."

"How many times have I told you not to answer the door unless you know who's on the other side?"

He sounded angry.

"I'm sorry Conn, it's just that I heard . . ."

They were both interrupted by the sounds of wailing coming from the doorway.

"That." She finished.

Connor turned in the direction of the cries, reaching across to pull a large basket towards him.

"What is it?" Abby asked.

"It's a baby."

Connor was dumbfounded, how could anyone just dump a baby like that? And why on their doorstep?

"A baby?"

He turned back to Abby, but froze as he saw something he hadn't noticed before, too focussed on her well-being.

"Erm, Abbs.?"

"Yeah?"

"Your er . . . Your eyes are white."

"Connor, everyone's eyes are white." She replied. "Unless they're ill."

"No I mean **all **white."

The once beautiful blue sparkling eyes she had had gone from not so sparkly, to non-existent. They almost looked frightening, like something from a horror film.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Blinded by Love Chapter 5

Warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, mild language

Disclaimer: Primeval and it's characters belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Next chapter up, there's quite a bit of angst in this one. Thanks to everyone who's reading and reviewing, please continue to do so. : -)

* * *

Connor stared at Abby as their pets ran and scuttled around them, sniffing the air and yapping and chirping. Thank goodness Sid, Nancy and Rex were there to protect Abby.

They were both torn from their thoughts by the incessant wails of the baby on the floor behind them. Connor stood up and helped Abby onto her feet before bending down and picking the moses basket up, rocking it gently as he walked to the table making shushing noises.

"What is it?" Abby asked.

"I told you, it's a baby." He replied, placing the basket on the table.

She snorted.

"I **mean** is it a boy or a girl?"

"Girl I think, she's wearing a dress."

The baby's cries grew louder still.

"Connor, you're going to have to pick her up."

"I can't pick her up." Connor replied, sounding worried.

Abby walked over to the table where the sounds were coming from and reached out until her hands came into contact with the basket. She felt the baby grip her finger and smiled.

"Connor, pick her up she might be hungry."

"We don't have anything to feed her."

"Is there nothing in the basket?"

Connor searched around finding a small bag with one bottle, two nappies, some wipes and an envelope.

"Yeah, there's a bottle and nappies, a note too."

"What's it say?"

Connor picked up the envelope, reading the message on the front out loud.

_I know you'll take care of her, she's yours. Her name is Isabelle._

Abby frowned, taking a deep breath, she suddenly felt sick. Connor had lied to her, he'd told her she was his first."

"I don't understand." She whispered, her voice cracking.

"Neither do I, they must have got the wrong address."

"Yeah right."

"Abby you've got to believe me, she's not mine, she can't be mine, it's physically impossible."

"What about Kelly?"

"Kelly?"

"The girl who called wanting to talk to you ages ago."

He was completely confused for a moment, racking his brains for what she could be talking about and then it twigged.

"Abbs, Kelly was someone who had a place for me to rent. When I moved back here I told her I didn't need it, that's all I swear."

Abby forced a smile, she had to believe him, she trusted him, she loved him.

The baby started screaming now, demanding their attention and Connor turned to her having no clue what to do.. He reached in, picking her up and holding her at arms length.

The little girls cries continued as she flailed her arms and legs around.

"I don't think she likes me." he said, sounding stressed.

Abby moved towards him, moving her arms to where he was holding baby Isabelle.

"You need to hold her properly Conn, hold her closer. You have to put one arm across her legs and the other along her back supporting her head, she needs to feel secure."

He did as she said, holding the baby closer and rocking back and forth and she immediately began to settle, her cries turning to whimpers. Connor couldn't help the smile that crossed his face and felt suddenly proud that he'd managed to quieten the baby as she placed her head on his shoulder.

"We need to call the police." Connor said softly.

Abby was silent for a moment, thinking over the evenings events, something didn't add up and there was a part of her that felt very uncomfortable with the idea of just handing the baby over to the authorities.

"I think we should take her to the Arc first." She replied.

"What? Why?"

"Think about it, someone leaves their baby on our doorstep, knocking me unconscious with some kind of device which has turned my eyes white."

"Well, we definitely need to get your eyes checked out." He replied, cringing at the sight of them.

The baby whimpered again and Connor noticed that his shoulder felt damp, she was sucking the material of his t-shirt.

"And we definitely need to feed this little one too, she's thinking that even my clothes seem tasty now."

Connor retrieved the bottle from the bag and inspected it carefully. There was something you were supposed to do before you gave it to a baby he was sure.

"How do I feed her?" He asked.

Abby put her arms out, having gotten used to the idea of having a baby in their home, she was beginning to feel more confident.

"Hand her to me, you need to go and warm the bottle up."

He pulled the baby away from his shoulder, despite her cries of protest and gave her to Abby who quickly and expertly shifted her into a cradle position in her arms.

"She's bigger than I thought." She observed.

"Yeah, she's not a newborn." Connor called over his shoulder as he walked to the kitchen.

"Don't boil the milk." Abby shouted. "Test it on your wrist, it needs to be just warm."

She could imagine him returning with scolding milk. Give him a computer and he could take it all apart and put it back together making it bigger and better, ask him about any pre-historic creature and he could describe it to you in detail, telling you what era it was from, what it ate and where it lived but when it came to something like this he was totally clueless.

Abby made her way to the sofa with extra care and sat down. The baby wasn't happy about being in this position and was making it known. She was beginning to get flustered herself trying to keep the flailing infant calm when she heard Connor return, sitting beside her and handing her the bottle.

"Squeeze some on my wrist." She instructed.

She may trust him with her heart but he had yet to prove himself in situations such as this.

Connor did as he was asked, letting a few drops of the pearly white liquid drip onto Abby's skin. She seemed satisfied and held her hand out for him to give her the bottle.

"Are you ok? . . . . Feeding her I mean."

"Yes Connor I'm fine."

She resisted her strong urge to get annoyed with him and she felt the bottle being place into her hand. She gripped it tightly and then realised she would need his help.

"Can you . . . "

She didn't get to finish, Connor seemed to understand and guided her to the baby's mouth. Isabelle latched on to the bottle immediately, drinking hungrily and Abby could hear her. She couldn't help but smile, she had held babies before and had always felt the 'awww' factor but there was something different with baby Isabelle, it felt right, she suspected that her biological clock had started ticking.

Connor watched on in wonder, Abby really did seem to be a natural at this, unlike him. Babies made him unbelievably nervous. He knew how naturally clumsy he was and how fragile they were and was sure that the two shouldn't mix. She had seemed to like him though, once he'd gotten over his initial fear of holding her.

"I'm going to call the Arc." He said. "Tell them we're coming in."

Abby nodded and he stood, walking over to the phone to call them and explain what had happened.

Upon his return, Abby had Isabelle sitting up on her knee while she patted her back vigorously. The baby let out an enormous burp and he raised his eyebrow.

"Now **that's** impressive." He commented.

Abby shook her head, trust him to think belching was impressive, such a guy thing.

"Right, we should get going." He said.

He was really beginning to worry about Abby's eyes now, he wanted to know what they'd done to her, if there would be any other side-effects from being knocked out. She had complained of a headache and that worried him too.

"Someone needs changing first." She replied.

Connor looked down at himself, momentarily confused by her words, he didn't look that bad surely. Then realisation dawned and he groaned.

"Can it not wait till we get her to the infirmary at the Arc?" He asked hopefully.

"No! We can't leave her in a soiled nappy, she'll get sore!"

Abby looked appalled by the mere suggestion and he winced.

"I'll get you the stuff to change her."

She rolled her eyes and sighed in disbelief.

"I can't change her, you'll have to do it."

Connor was horrified. He'd never changed a nappy before and was intending to keep it that way, it definitely wasn't at the top of his to-do list.

"M . . . m . . . me?"

"Yes you!"

Connor sighed in defeat, of course he'd have to do it, he couldn't expect Abby to do it when she couldn't see. He reached down and lifted Isabelle from Abby's lap, walking over to the table with her. He lay a towel down and placed her on it carefully.

The baby immediately whined, reaching her arms out to Connor to be lifted and in that moment, his heart melted. He smiled at her and made funny faces, cooing over her and tickling her tummy. Isabelle returned his smile, which soon turned into a full blown chuckle and it amazed him. He'd done that, made her smile and laugh, made her happy and for the briefest moment he almost wished she **was** his.

Abby came up behind him placing her hand on his shoulder.

"She really likes you." She said softly. "You're better at this than you think."

Better than he thought he may be but he still didn't relish the thought of changing her. Connor decided there was no time like the present, he began to undo the many fastenings of the baby grow she was wearing under her pale green dress. What he found when he finally got to her nappy almost had him heading for the hills.

Connor forced himself to get control, he couldn't lose it now, Abby needed him. He fought his gag reflex, cleaning Isabelle up quickly while holding his breath and folded up the offending nappy, not that it disguised the smell much. Abby had moved away scrunching up her nose.

Connor finished his task, feeling somewhat pleased with himself as he lifted little Isabelle up only for her nappy to fall off straight away. He groaned with frustration.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked, moving closer again.

"I can't work these stupid things out." He huffed. "It fell straight off again."

As he spoke, the baby began to pee all over the table.

"Great! That's absolutely fantastic!" He said sarcastically.

The baby giggled.

"I'm glad somebody finds this funny." He chastised.

After cleaning the table and two more attempts, Connor finally managed, with Abby's help, to put the nappy on properly. Now they were entering the Arc building, Connor holding Isabelle and Abby clinging to his arm.

As they entered the infirmary, they were greeted by Sarah, Danny and Becker.

"Oh, hi guys." Connor greeted in surprise. "Didn't know they'd call you in for this."

"You're kidding right?" Asked Danny. "Somebody leaving a baby on **your **doorstep, we had to see."

Sarah moved over to the baby, cooing away and Connor handed Isabelle over to her. He guided Abby to a bed, helping her to sit and the nurse began examining her.

"So you have no clue who it was?" Sarah asked, rocking the baby from side to side as she began to cry.

Connor shook his head, his attention half focussed on Abby.

"They left this note."

He handed the note to Danny, who read it aloud again so that everyone could hear.

"She's yours?" Sarah asked Connor.

"No! That's just it, she can't be mine, it's not possible."

He was looking over at Abby again, feeling the need to reassure her.

"Whoever it was that left her at our door was either mistaken or . . . "

"Or what?" Asked Danny.

"I'm not sure."

Becker reached for the note, looking it over for himself.

"Did none of you think that maybe the note was for Abby?" He asked.

"WHAT?" Everyone asked in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"Well, it says _she's yours_ maybe it was intended for Abby to read."

"Becker, I think I'd have noticed if I'd given birth." Abby joked.

But Becker still looked deadly serious.

"The handwriting is yours." He stated.

His revelation shocked everyone into silence for a moment. Abby was completely blown away, he must be mistaken, how the hell did he know her handwriting so well anyway?

"Right, so I got pregnant, secretly gave birth, kept the baby in my drawer for a few months and then wrote that note and dumped her on my own doorstep." Abby said sarcastically.

"No." He replied. "That would just be silly."

Connor had been silent until now, running different scenarios in his head.

"So what? Isabelle is from the future?" He swallowed hard, the repercussions of bringing the baby through an anomaly to the past were unknown, but a very scary thought.

"Maybe." Becker replied.

"Well, let's just open the envelope and see what's inside." Danny suggested.

"Open it?" Connor asked.

"Connor, you didn't say there was anything inside it." Abby said from across the room.

"I . . . I didn't know."

Danny tore into the envelope, pulling out a piece of paper and began to read.

_Abby and Connor_

_I can imagine you're both really confused by now. Isabelle __**is **__yours - in a way. See, we've been searching and searching for a safe world for her and I think I've found it with you. Connor I know what you're thinking and you don't have to worry. Where I come from, they found a way to make the anomalies open to alternate realties. Our world is now a horrible place and Connor and I have been running since Izzie was born. He sacrificed himself to save us both and now that I know Izzie is safe, I can join him. Please look after my baby and love her as much as I have, you can't imagine how difficult it was to leave her, she was all I had left. Her birthday is 25th__ March and she likes you to sing to her when she's upset. Abby I'm sorry I knocked you out but it was necessary, you'll understand in time. Hugs and kisses to Isabelle Temple. Xxx_

The infirmary was silent, even the baby having quietened. Abby had finished being examined by the medical staff and she was crying softly. Connor went over to her, pulling her close and kissing her hair.

"That's so sad." Sarah said softly.

"I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose you." Abby sniffed. "And I don't want to."

Isabelle turned her head to the sound of Abby crying, joining in herself and twisting in Sarah's arms, reaching in Connor and Abby's direction. Sarah walked over to them, handing her to Connor who in turn placed her on Abby's lap. Abby pulled the little girl to her, rocking back and forth on the bed.

"Shhh, it's ok sweetheart." She soothed.

The baby reached one hand out to Connor and he kissed it gently. She seemed to settle instantly and the rest of the team watched on in awe.

"She seems to know you both pretty well." Danny observed.

"The nurse should check her over." Suggested Becker. "Make sure she's ok."

"Why wouldn't she be ok?" Asked Abby accusingly.

"The letter said they were on the run for almost eight months, that's not ideal for a baby."

"It's not ideal for anyone." She replied harshly.

Tonight's revelations had affected her quite profoundly, she had suddenly been thrust into motherhood, had a child that needed her and loved her but which she had no real feelings for herself. True it was difficult to resist the motherly instincts that had already began to overtake her, she was beginning to feel an overwhelming desire to protect little Isabelle. But she couldn't be a mother, Abby refused, she couldn't agree to this . . . Could she?

Izzie had fallen asleep in her arms, no doubt exhausted from the days events. She could feel her deep steady breathing and hear her soft snores. She obviously took after her Dad in that respect. Oh her Dad, Connor was her Daddy and she was her Mummy, again emotion washed over her and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Abbs we should get her checked out, just to be safe." Connor said softly, kissing her cheek.

She nodded, handing Isabelle back to Connor. The baby didn't even flinch as he hauled her up onto his shoulder and carried her to the bed next to Abby's. another thing she'd obviously inherited from her Father.

The nurse looked at Isabelle, listening to her heart and lungs, taking a sample of blood and weighing her. She slept through the entire procedure and the nurse had been concerned but Abby reminded her that she was related to Connor and so it was probably quite normal.

"The doctor is on his way in." The nurse informed them. "He's going to send Isabelle for X-rays."

"Why?" Asked Connor, sounding concerned.

"Just to make sure her bones have been growing normally and that she hasn't received any breaks or fractures - she seems fine." The nurse reassured.

Connor relaxed a little.

"What about Abby's eyes?"

"We'll have to send her back to the specialist, the doctor wants a CT scan and a detailed eye exam, we don't have the equipment here."

"Connor!" Abby exclaimed suddenly, grabbing his hand and clutching her head.

"What's wrong?"

Everyone rushed to her side except Becker who stood by the sleeping Isabelle to keep watch on her.

"My head hurts." She moaned. "Ah!"

The nurse shone lights in her eyes, though Connor wondered why when there were obviously no pupils visible to dilate, it just made them look even scarier than they had before.

"Ow! Make it stop please!" She screamed.

"I'll get you something for the pain." The nurse said, hurrying off to her office.

She returned seconds later with a needle in her hand, lifting up Abby's sleeve and sticking it in her arm.

Abby continued to writhe around in pain for a few minutes before starting to settle, both arms around Connor neck now, holding him close.

* * *

Connor sat by Abby's bedside feeding a hungry Isabelle. Abby lay sleeping, exhausted from both the pain she'd been in and the drugs they had given her to take it away. Becker had sent two of his men out to the shops to buy baby milk and the various other things they needed for Izzie such as bottles, nappies, and some fresh baby grows and Sarah had disappeared somewhere, dragging Becker with her, saying something about clothes and a pram.

He looked carefully at his little daughter, scrutinising her face. She had a mop of dark hair like his and bright blue eyes just like Abby's - or like Abby's used to be. She had a perfect little button nose and tiny but perfectly formed lips. One thing that stood out to him was that she had the longest eyelashes he had ever seen, they were beautiful. He wished he could have seen her when she was tiny, been there when she was born. It was a very odd feeling to have a child that neither he nor the Mother had any knowledge of.

She finished her milk and he sat her up, patting her back in the same way he had seen Abby do the day before to get her wind up.

After burping her, he decided he wanted to know more about Izzie. He placed her on the floor and she immediately rolled onto her knees, crawling away from him to explore her surroundings, giggling all the way.

So she could crawl - sweet.

She got to the door and he suddenly panicked, running over to retrieve her before she got trodden on.

"Hey giggles, not so fast." He chided, swizzing her up into the air and making her laugh more.

He heard a groan from behind him and rushed back to Abby's side.

"Hey sleepy head." He whispered, holding onto her hand as Izzie sat on his lap playing with the chain around his neck.

"Hey." She replied.

"How ya feeling?"

"Like I drank too many vodka's."

Izzie squealed suddenly and Abby winced.

"Shush Izzie, your Mum's got a headache." He said sternly.

The little girl looked at him with her big blue eyes, tears beginning to form.

"I'm not her Mum." Abby corrected.

"You sort of are, I mean, she has the same DNA as us, she's the same blood type, she even looks like you."

"Stop it." She growled. "She's not mine and she's not yours, she belongs to some other version of us."

It was a futile attempt to distance herself from a situation which she wasn't all that sure she was ready for, especially given her disability, she didn't feel she was fit to take care of a child. And then there was the fact that she was in a foul mood, she had woken up in pain as well as in darkness, she felt like the whole world was against her. Connor said Isabelle looked like her, but she'd never know for sure, would never be able to look into her little girls eyes, see the colour of her hair, see her smile and watch her first steps.

"Abby!"

Isabelle began to cry now and it did nothing to lighten her mood.

"Just take her away Conn."

Connor felt devastated by her reaction. She had been fine last night when the baby wasn't hers, then when she found out, she still seemed to be coping with the news but then he could have been wrong, it was a lot to deal with, he knew only too well, but then Izzie had given him that puppy dog look and he had fallen instantly in love with her, he knew he had to be there for her no matter what.

"Abby please!" He begged.

She turned away and Connor felt as though Abby had turned her back on him as well as their little girl. He pulled Isabelle closer, shushing her as he walked from the room, his own tears falling and mingling with his daughters.

* * *

"Hey Connor." Sarah greeted as she came into his office wielding a rather expensive looking pram filled with bags.

He was sitting at his desk fiddling with one of his gadgets and Isabelle was sat in the corner in a make-shift playpen playing with a stuffed bear Lester had brought in from one of his children.

Connor had almost had a heart attack when Lester came in, handing Izzie the bear and talking sweetly to her. He had shown he was still the same old Lester though by grinding out an; "If any of this gets out Temple you're fired do you hear me?" Connor had nodded, swallowing hard and Lester had stalked off to his office. Isabelle had played happily with the bear ever since, allowing Connor to get on with some work, not that he could concentrate much.

"What you been buying?" He asked Sarah, rolling his eyes.

"Just essentials."

She held out some outfits for him to see and he stood up to go and look at them more closely, he had to admit they were cute. She opened another bag containing a few toys.

"Sarah, you must've spent a fortune!"

"Don't worry about it, Becker, Danny and I clubbed together."

At that moment, Becker walked in with Danny carrying a playpen. It was lemon yellow and covered in a soft fabric to prevent Izzie from hurting herself. It had fine netting around it rather than bars and had a squashy comfortable bottom for her to sit in.

Connor beamed at them, their gesture cheering him up a little and he picked Izzie up and placed her in it.

Sarah took the tags off the toys and placed them in there too and she looked around her wide-eyed, unsure of what to play with first.

"You know, she's probably never had this much stuff." Sarah commented.

Connor nodded in agreement, his poor little girl must have had a horrible life flitting from one place to another, running from people who wanted to kill her and her parents.

"Why aren't you with Abby?" Sarah asked. "We went there first she said she didn't know where you were."

"Did she also say that she'd told me to go? Take Izzie away because she isn't hers and she wants nothing to do with her?" He asked angrily.

And he was angry, at first he'd been heartbroken but now he was so angry that he wanted to shout and scream at Abby, ask her how she could turn away a defenceless little girl who needed her Mum.

Sarah was speechless for a minute, not really sure what to say to that. She had never seen Connor get so het up about something.

"You know she'll come round eventually." She reassured.

"Yeah, it's got to be hard for her mate." Danny added. "Try thinking about it from her point of view, she's gone from having 20/20 vision, to being blinded to parenthood in a couple of months and she's not really had chance to come to terms with any of it."

* * *

Back in the infirmary, Abby's headache was finally beginning to lift. It had been hours since she sent Connor away and he hadn't been back, she'd really hurt him and she hated herself for it. She just wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be ok but she wasn't ready to call for him yet. She knew that he'd bring Isabelle back with him and she still wasn't ready to face that whole can of worms.

She heard voices coming from the corner of the room and then footsteps coming towards her.

"Miss Maitland." Said a man's voice.

"I'm doctor Grayson, do you remember me?"

She nodded.

"I'm just going to take a closer look at you eyes ok?"

Again she nodded.

Abby suddenly saw a bright flash and scrunched up her eyes in shock.

"I need you to open you eyes for me Abby."

"What did you do?" She asked.

"What did I do?"

"Just then, what did you do?"

"I assure you, I did nothing that should cause you pain, I'm just looking at your eyes."

She shrugged it off thinking it was her imagination but then she saw it again, the same flash but it the other eye this time.

"Oh God!" She exclaimed.

"What's wrong love?" Asked the nurse.

"You're shining a light into my eyes aren't you?"

"Yes, why?"

"I can see it!"

Long after the doctor had gone, Abby sat in the bed clutching the switch to her bedside lamp. She flicked it on and off over and over, watching the shadows play across the room. The shadows were all she could see, distinguishing light from dark but it had to be the start of something didn't it? And if not, this was far better than the constant darkness she had been surrounded by for the past two months.

She needed to speak to Connor, tell him the good news, hear Izzie's giggles again. She'd wait till morning, who knows, maybe her sight would improve even more over night.

Abby was brought from her reverie suddenly as all hell broke loose in the infirmary around her. She could hear Connor's voice sounding desperate, pleading with the doctor and nurse to help him, and Izzie, Izzie wasn't giggling, she was making a terrible gasping sound.

The sound seemed to come from all around her as it bounced off the walls and she sobbed, begging someone to tell her what was happening to her little girl, the little girl who only hours ago she had turned away. How could she have been so selfish? Abby was grief stricken.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Blinded by Love Chapter 6

Warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, language, smut,

Disclaimer: Primeval and it's character's belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Really appreciate those reviews guys! Thanks so much. :-)

* * *

Abby had begged someone to tell her what was happening to Isabelle, she'd pulled herself up from the bed and followed the sound of Connor's voice, touching his arm and asking him. He had wrenched his arm away, ignoring her completely and moving to another area of the room.

Connor's worry for the baby had made his anger at Abby that much greater. He needed her to stay away from him otherwise he had no doubt that he would say something he'd later regret.

Abby had watched shadows move around, listening to every voice, every cry, every breath. Hearing the doctor mention 'possible asthma' and 'oxygen' and 'steroids'. after a while, Izzie's breaths had become more regular.

By now, everything else was still aside from the buzz of a nebuliser and the baby's intermittent whimpers. Abby's sight had improved more as the hours passed and she could now see the blurs of people as they walked by. She stayed curled up on her bed, her eyes focussed on where Izzie lay. She hadn't mentioned her vision improvement to the doctors, wanting them to focus solely on Isabelle - Abby could wait.

Sarah walked into the room and saw Connor sat by Isabelle's bedside looking completely exhausted. She walked over, sitting beside him.

"She's going to be ok." She stated.

"Yeah, doctor says she'll be fine once she's got the drugs into her system. She's already improving."

"You should get some rest."

He shook his head, rubbing his daughter's hand affectionately when she coughed and let out a breathless cry.

"I'm not leaving her, she's scared, I can't get her to settle and when she gets worked up it makes her worse."

Sarah nodded, it had been a very scary moment when the little girl had started coughing and wheezing and then when her lips had turned blue - she didn't even want to think about it any more.

"Well, if you need anything, give us a call yeah?"

Connor looked up and smiled weakly at her. He couldn't explain the depth of his feelings for this little baby who he had only just met, was still getting to know. All he knew was that the love was almost instant, coupled with a fierce need to protect her at all costs.

"Thanks."

As Sarah left the room, Connor didn't notice Abby's eyes tracking every movement.

* * *

Sometime during the night, Abby awoke from a dreamless sleep. Isabelle was crying, a horrible crackly sound unlike the cries she had heard her make before. She wondered where Connor was, but then heard him trying to settle her, saw his blurred form stand and hover over the bed.

"You have to keep the mask on sweetheart, it's good for you." He soothed.

After a few more minutes of trying to calm her, she saw him walk away, calling for the doctor. Abby pushed herself to her feet, walking over to the bed. She could just about make out the flailing arms, the shape of Izzie's head and dark hair - she had dark hair just like Connor and this made Abby smile.

"Hey baby." She whispered, putting her face close to hers. "It's ok, Mummy's here."

As far as the child was concerned, Abby was her Mum and Connor her Dad. She didn't understand that the parents who'd created her, who she'd known and loved, were dead and gone. Abby looked like her Mum, talked like her Mum and smelled like her too. Connor was just like the Dad who'd thrown her into the air and caught her making her laugh, talked to her about silly things she didn't understand and read her stories about dinosaurs and dragons and princesses.

Abby took the mask from her face, feeling around carefully for any other wires Isabelle may be attached to. She found only a cannula in her hand and avoided it as she lifted her from the bed, Izzie's head resting on her shoulder. Abby then brought the mask back up, holding it a few millimetres from the little girls face so that she couldn't feel it touching her skin.

Isabelle had stopped crying now but was whimpering and Abby rocked from side to side. Remembering the words of the note from her alternate self, she began to sing.

_When I was just a little girl, _

_I asked my mother what will I be?_

_Will I be pretty, will I be rich? _

_Here's what she said to me_

_Que sera sera, _

_whatever will be will be_

_The future's not ours to see_

_Que sera sera_

_What will be, will be._

Izzie had reached up and was twizzling Abby's hair, completely settled in her arms.

"What're you doing?" Connor asked accusingly as he entered the room.

"Isabelle was crying."

"She shouldn't be out of bed, she's sick."

"I know she's sick Connor, despite the fact that no one would tell me anything."

She was using hushed tones so as not to disturb Izzie, but still sounded annoyed.

Connor saw red.

"Oh so now you care? Now that she almost died you suddenly give a damn?"

Abby was taken aback by his tone.

"Shush, you'll upset her again." She admonished. "And I always cared, I was just overwhelmed and incredibly selfish."

She kissed the baby's head softly and saw Connor's shape move towards her. Fearing he was going to try and take Izzie away, she turned her back to him, holding her closer.

"Please," She begged. "She's settled, don't take her away from me."

She felt Connor grab her elbow.

"Abby, turn around." He whispered.

She couldn't, she wouldn't, she remembered always wanting her Mum when she was ill as a child and knew that Izzie probably felt the same. She wasn't about to hand her over to Connor so that he could lay her back down and place the nebuliser mask she hated back over her head.

"Turn around." He said again.

"Please Connor, she needs me."

"Look at me!"

That got her attention, he'd noticed. Abby turned slowly to face him, she could only see a pinkish blur for his face but she could work out where his eyes must be and no doubt shocked him when she looked right at them.

"Abby!" He gasped. "You can see!"

"Not properly, just basic shapes and shadows, but it's steadily improving."

"How long?"

"It started a couple of hours before you brought Izzie in." She replied.

She longed to be held by him, she had felt his resentment towards her coming off him in waves and hated it.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked incredulously.

"I was going to, and then . . . well, Isabelle got sick and I wanted the doctor to concentrate on making her better, and you were . . . you hate me."

"I don't hate you Abby."

"Of course you do, and I don't blame you, what I said . . . it's unforgivable."

Tears were running down her cheeks now and little Izzie seemed to pick up on her distress, reaching her hand up to her face. Abby smiled down at her, kissing her hand.

Isabelle pointed at Connor, babbling away. It was the first time either one of them had heard her do any kind of baby talk, until now all she had really done was laugh and cry.

Abby pulled the mask away a little more so that they could hear her sweet voice.

"Dadadada." She babbled.

Connor's eybrows almost hit the ceiling and he smiled, his eyes filling with tears.

"Yes." Abby cooed. "Daddy."

The little girl looked back to Abby grinning, though Abby didn't see it.

"Mama." She said, looking pleased with herself.

Abby gasped, choking back a sob.

"Mamamamamamama." She mumbled, snuggling against Abby's shoulder once more.

Connor filled the space between them, putting his arms around Abby and Isabelle and holding them both close.

"I could never hate you Abby." He whispered against her hair. "It was anger not hate, never hate. I love you."

Abby cried openly, the relief of being in Connor's arms and hearing their little girl speak for the first time overwhelming her.

They rocked together, staying in that position until Izzie had fallen asleep. Then Connor took her from Abby's arms, laying her carefully on the bed and re-attaching her mask before moving back to Abby. He kissed her softly and then curled up with her on the other bed where they both fell asleep almost instantly.

*******************

"Mamamamama." Isabelle cried.

Abby woke immediately, rushing to the baby's bedside and stroking her face softly. She looked down at her and burst into tears, picking her up and hugging her and kissing her repeatedly.

Connor ran to her side at the sound of Abby crying.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

He knew Izzie must be ok because she was giggling as Abby continued to kiss her cheeks.

"Oh Connor, she's so beautiful." Abby cried.

For a moment Connor was completely confused.

"She has dimples when she smiles, just like you."

"You see her properly?" He asked incredulously.

She nodded.

"I see her eyes, her nose, her cheeks and her smile."

Connor moved closer, pulling Abby's chin towards him.

"Your eyes are blue!" He exclaimed.

Last night, when she'd told him her sight was returning, her eyes had still been cloudy, though not as scary as they had been when the were all white. Now they were back to their original sparkling blue and Connor grinned from ear to ear, he'd missed her looking into his eyes this way.

"You're gorgeous." She said to him.

He laughed and looked down at his feet, face burning red.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"I forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"How cute you were." She told him. "We know where you get it from don't we Izzie?"

She looked back to their child, tickling her tummy and making her giggle again.

"I don't think she get's her good looks from me Abbs."

"She has your hair, your dimply smile and your nose."

"My nose?" He asked, frowning. "You think?"

Abby nodded, gripping the baby's nose lightly and wiggling it.

"Well, she has your eyes and lips and your facial expressions."

She snorted.

"My facial expressions Connor?"

"Yeah! She can smile at you so sweetly that your heart melts - the way you do. She scrunches her nose up when she's cross just like you and she frowns the way you do when she's confused ."

"Connor, she's eight months old, what does she have to get confused about?"

"She's really smart! I was explaining string theory to her yesterday and she looked really interested."

"Are you sure you didn't confuse interested face with boredom face Connor?" She laughed.

"Ha ha very funny!" He replied sarcastically.

* * *

The doctors were baffled by the recovery of Abby's sight. The fact that it had happened so quickly was what stumped them but the Arc team thought they knew how it happened. Abby was sure that her alternate self cured her in some way. She wasn't sure how or where she got the technology but frankly, she didn't really care. She could see again, see Isabelle, see Connor and see the world. She was never going to take such things for granted any more.

Connor and Abby had just returned from a shopping trip. They may have gone slightly overboard, they'd only gone to choose furniture for Izzie's bedroom but Abby had made the mistake of taking a look in the toy section. She lost Connor immediately and when she found him again, the shopping trolley was piled high with toys and baby gadgets.

Now, as they unpacked everything, Connor lay on the floor giggling, half drowning in a sea of cuddly toys. Isabelle thought this was hilarious of course and was joining in, their giggles infectious as Abby tried to concentrate on putting the cot together.

"Connor, a little help over here?" She asked him.

"I'm busy aren't I?"

"Doing what exactly?"

"Building . . . " He rummaged through their many purchases. "This!" He exclaimed, when he found what he was looking for.

It was a baby walker for Isabelle with a little activity tray and had cost a small fortune.

Abby shook her head.

"Fine, I can do this by myself anyway."

An hour later and Abby was looking down proudly at her creation. The cot looked perfect with a little cream quilt with brown bears on it and a cot-bumper to match. She picked up Isabelle - who had been playing with a toy giraffe - and popped her in.

Izzie grinned up at her, taking in her new surroundings and babbling to the giraffe in her hand.

"You like it sweetheart? It's your new bed."

The little girl blew a raspberry and then giggled, jumping up and down on her bottom.

Abby turned to Connor, who was still trying to build the walker and getting a little frustrated as he turned the instruction leaflet this way and that. How could a guy who built an anomaly locking device from scratch be utterly defeated by the instructions for a child's toy? She looked back at Izzie and couldn't stop the "Awww" that escaped her lips at the sight of her curled up asleep, holding on tightly to the giraffe with one hand and sucking the thumb of her other.

Connor stood up to see what the fuss was about and gave a goofy lopsided grin when he saw Isabelle.

"C'mon." Abby whispered, dragging Connor out.

He nodded and they left their new daughter to sleep, closing the door behind them quietly and tiptoeing downstairs.

"You got the baby monitor?" Connor asked.

She held it up for him to see and he nodded. They weren't taking any chances after what happened at the Arc but Izzie had inhalers now to prevent her from getting in such a state.

Abby placed the monitor down on the table and put her arms around Connor's neck, kissing him softly. They hadn't had any alone time in over a week and because things were so different now, it felt more like a lifetime.

She pulled away slightly, grinning at him and he smiled back shyly.

"I love you Connor." She told him.

He lunged forward, kissing her again but with more passion and she moaned into his mouth.

"I need to see you." She whispered.

"You can see me, I'm right here."

"No, all of you." Abby explained.

"What, here? In the kitchen?"

She looked up at him through her lashes, giving him her best sultry smile.

"Why not?" She purred.

Connor felt suddenly unsure of himself, like it was their first time all over again, what if she didn't like what she saw? He'd never win a Mr Universe contest, wasn't naturally athletic and often thought he could do with gaining a few pounds. Though the weight thing wasn't through lack of trying, he ate like a pig but all the running around they did on the job seemed to keep him slender. He also, like most men, had an irrational fear that his 'equipment' was too small. It didn't occur to him that it wouldn't be Abby sight that told her that that area was more than adequate.

He'd had plenty of time to think these fears over in the last few days and frankly, he was more than a little worried. What if she was disappointed? What if Abby looked at him and he saw that look on her face, one that told him she found him unattractive. Worse, what if she laughed?

Abby sensed his hesitation and pushed him against the worktop, her fingers drifting under the fabric of his t-shirt and her finger nails dancing across his skin.

He hissed, kissing her again and trying desperately to quash his fears, to push down the sick feeling in his stomach.

"I . . . I'm not muscly." He stuttered.

"I know, You're Connor."

"Abby." He whined. "I'm serious!"

"Then you're daft!" She replied, huffing in frustration at the interruption. "Do you not think that after almost four years as friends, living and working together, sleeping together God knows how many times and running my hands all over your body that I would know the shape and curve of every muscle, every bone?"

He bit his lip, looking down at her lovingly whilst stroking her cheek.

Abby pulled her t-shirt over her head and threw it on the floor.

"There." She exclaimed. "Now it's your turn."

He smirked, so was this some kind of game? If he removed an item of his clothing would she remove more? Because that would be the kind of game he could grow to really like. He would never tire of looking at her naked body.

Connor placed his hands at the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head and dropping it next to hers. He was still wearing a vest underneath and so wasn't yet showing much flesh.

Abby gasped as she noticed a tattoo at the top of his right arm, she hadn't thought him the type to get tattooed. She imagined he must have seen the tiny one at the base of her spine. In comparison, his was huge, beginning just past his shoulder and travelling halfway to his elbow.

She traced the pattern with her fingertips and then kissed it softly.

"How long you had this?" She asked.

"Couple of years."

She was taken aback. He had never once shown it off or complained about the pain after having it done - and they were painful. Hers had hurt for days afterwards, this one must have been more than a little tender. He did always wear long sleeved t-shirts or big jackets and she'd always tried to stay out of his way when he was showering and shaving because of a not so little incident when they first started living together involving him wearing just a towel and sporting a rather impressive erection. So she didn't really get the opportunity to see all of him. Now she was going to make up for it.

"Your turn." He whispered sounding unsure.

She smirked and reached behind her, popping her bra open and letting it slide down her arms before falling to the floor.

Connor groaned at the sight of her naked breasts and lifted his vest up, casting it aside.

Abby stepped closer again. This was what she wanted, what she needed, to gaze upon him the way he had her so many times before. She smiled at him affectionately, reassuring him and began to kiss a trail down his chest until she was on her knees, hand moving to unfasten his belt.

"Hey! I thought it was your turn." He admonished.

She looked up at him, smiling cheekily.

"I'm cheating." She purred.

She succeeded in removing his belt and undoing his trousers and let them fall, pooling at his ankles. Connor felt suddenly exposed, despite the fact that he was still wearing his boxers. When Abby tugged on them too, he gripped the worktop behind him so hard that his knuckles turned white. Now he really was exposed and his breaths were coming in short gasps as he felt her eyes on him.

He stepped out of his clothes and Abby drifted towards him, kissing his arousal softly first at the base and then made her way all the way to the tip, lingering there for a moment and taking pleasure from his gasps and moans. She moved back up his body, standing up and taking his hands she pulled him away from the worktop and then stood behind him to enjoy a rear view.

She ran her hands up and down his back sensually and then cupped his buttocks, he had a great arse, she had always thought so, but it was so much nicer when not covered by all his baggy clothes. She smacked him once - hard, and laughed as she heard him yelp.

When Abby came back round to his front, she had miraculously removed the rest of her clothing and Connor lifted her, placing her on the kitchen counter and standing between her parted thighs. It was the perfect height for him to enter her and this time as he did, he looked into her eyes and she returned his gaze.

"Abby." He whispered, fighting tears.

She just smiled in return, stroking his face as he began to move within her.

It was so wonderful to see her staring back at him and it was almost too much, almost too difficult to keep his emotions in check. He really did love her so much that sometimes he felt like his heart might burst.

As they made love on the kitchen counter, Abby promising herself that she would give it an extra good clean when they'd finished, they connected in a way that they had never done before. Connor couldn't explain it, but he felt like he had all of her now, like before there was always a piece missing, a part of her that she couldn't share.

Just as Abby approached climax, there was a knock at the door.

"I'm coming!" She shouted.

And she was, she seriously hoped that the person on the other side of the door couldn't tell. Connor smirked at her, despite his aroused state and she clamped down hard on her internal muscles whilst pushing up against him, causing him to join her, cursing and moaning her name.

They untangled themselves quickly, picking up their discarded clothing and throwing it back on.

"Go answer the door Connor." She whispered, pulling her t-shirt over her head as he pulled on his trousers and fastened the belt.

"You go answer it!" He replied breathlessly.

"I can't, I need to clean up."

"Well I can't. I have this." He explained, pointing to his tented trousers.

Abby rolled her eyes and took pity on him, still pulling up her leggings as she ran to the door.

"Who is it?" She called as she looked through the spy hole to see Sarah, Danny and Becker.

"It's just us." Danny replied.

Abby opened the door, still slightly out of breath but trying desperately to hide it. There was no concealing her rosy cheeks and dishevelled appearance though, not to mention the tone she had used to tell them she was 'coming'.

"Not interrupting anything are we?" Becker asked, all business.

Sarah and Danny were not so talented at keeping a straight face though and both burst out laughing.

"We could always 'come' back another time when you guys aren't so 'busy'" Danny added.

Abby blushed, her face turning redder than it had been already and she looked at her feet, suddenly finding them very interesting.

"No, not interrupting anything, come on in." She replied, moving aside.

Even Becker joined in on the laughter now and Abby was glad it was her and not Connor who had answered the door, he would have died of embarrassment.

They all walked into the flat, moving to the living area.

"Connor!" Abby called. "The guys are here."

"Be there in a sec." He called from the kitchen. "I'll put the kettle on."

"Where's the giggler?" Danny asked, referring to baby Isabelle.

"Oh, she's fast asleep, we've been shopping all day, she was exhausted. Actually, I was just going to check on her."

"Oh I'll go!" Sarah offered enthusiastically.

Abby nodded and Sarah took off up the stairs leaving her with the two men and feeling totally foolish.

"Connor?" She called again after a few moments of smirks and silence.

"Can I see you in the kitchen a minute Abbs?" He replied.

She sighed.

"Make yourselves at home." She said to Danny and Becker. "Be back in a minute."

She popped her head into the kitchen and glared at Connor.

"What's taking you so long?" She asked.

"I can't get rid of this!" He stated, pointing at his hard-on and looking worried.

Abby couldn't stop the smirk from crossing her face.

"It's not funny Abby!" He pouted. "It won't go away!"

"Just . . . Think of something horrible." She giggled. "A T-Rex trying to eat you."

The baby monitor crackled to life with Sarah's voice talking softly to a waking Isabelle. Abby left Connor to make the tea and went upstairs.

By the time Abby had come back down holding a sleepy baby, Connor had brought out the drinks, his 'problem' seemingly forgotten.

"Hi Izzie." Becker said sweetly.

Isabelle didn't answer, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"She's still tired." Abby explained.

"Did Did!" Izzie whined.

"Did?" Sarah asked.

"She means Sid." Connor answered. "Those two love each other, she follows him everywhere."

Connor whistled and both Diictodons came skidding into the room, yapping and squeaking. Isabelle jumped around in Abby's arms and she put her on the floor. They all then watched on in awe as the little girl copied their sounds and began crawling around the room after them, Sid turning to nuzzle her from time to time.

"I don't actually think she knows they have different names, she likes them both but Nancy is kind of difficult to say." Abby added.

"What about Rex?" Asked Sarah.

"Oh, Rex and Izzie have an understanding, Rex stays out of Izzie's way and Izzie stays out of Rex's way. It freaks her out when he flies around." Connor explained.

"So are you guys here for a particular reason or is this just a social call?" Abby asked.

"Do we need a reason to come see our friends?" Asked Danny.

"You're here to see Isabelle aren't you?" She asked, smiling.

Sarah caved first.

"We haven't seen her in almost a week!"

"Yeah, well, we've been busy."

"We heard." Danny piped in.

Connor's face fell, the colour draining from it completely whereas Abby's turned red again.

"Breathe Connor breathe! I say good on yer son."

"Excuse me I just have to erm . . . " Connor mumbled, hurrying off to the bathroom.

"Danny! Leave him alone." Abby growled, running after Connor to check on him.

He was at the sink, splashing his face with cold water.

"You should just ignore them babe." She said softly, moving up behind him and putting her arms around his waist. "But Danny's right, you should be proud."

"P . . . p . . . proud?"

"Of making me come, you're rather good at it you know."

He turned around in her arms, a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Oh Yeah!"

They were interrupted by a babbling Isabelle, who had followed them to the bathroom and was covered in chocolate, holding a half nibbled biscuit in one hand.

"Ok" Abby shouted. "Who gave the baby chocolate?"

Abby whisked her off the floor and took her into the living area.

"We don't have any chocolate." Sarah said.

"I think I know what happened." Connor called from the kitchen.

Rex was sitting on the worktop munching his way through a packet of chocolate digestives. Connor watched in amazement as the lizard lifted one in his mouth and dropped it on the floor for Sid and Nancy. Everyone came in to see.

"Awww, he's sharing." Connor said.

"Rex! Your not supposed to eat biscuits they're bad for you!" Abby scolded.

Connor turned around, chuckling at the state of a chocolate covered Isabelle.

"Come on you." He cooed, plucking her from Abby's arms. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Thanks Conn." Abby smiled.

"She might like a little chocolate syrup in her next bottle." Connor suggested jokingly.

******************

Connor was running through the Arc. The sirens were blaring, red lights flashing all around and the bright lights overhead flickered. A man's voice warned of a creature incursion over the tannoy and Connor felt sick.

He shouldn't have left her, why had he left her? He'd just popped out of his lab for a moment leaving Isabelle playing happily with her favourite toy in her playpen. He wondered where Abby was, maybe she had got to their daughter and had taken her out of the building, moving her to safety. The alternative was unthinkable.

Two future predators had sprung lose and were currently on a killing spree around the building. One was a juvenile, the other they assumed was it's mother.

"Izzie!" He called desperately as he neared his lab.

"Connor!"

He bumped into Abby just outside the door. She was clutching a gun - it was an actual gun and not the tranquilizer gun Abby favoured. When it came to her child Abby was fiercely protective.

"You left her?" She asked incredulously.

"Only for a second! I was just down the hall."

A terrible snarling sound came from inside the room and they looked at one another in horror.

* * *

Things had been strange at first at Abby and Connor's flat. Making the move from young couple to family had been sudden and surprising but far from unpleasant. Isabelle was a sweet, well behaved and mild mannered child who rarely cried. They had discovered over the last three months that she was indeed as Connor had said, very smart. She seemed to pick things up quickly, her speech was very good for someone so young and she was already trying her hardest to walk.

She liked Connor to explain everything he was doing, even when his explanations involved words Abby didn't understand. He'd shown her how to make an anomaly detector and she had watched him the whole time with a huge smile on her face. Abby suspected she just loved to hear Connor's voice and be the centre of his attention, she was a total Daddy's girl.

After a couple of weeks at home getting used to being a family, Connor and Abby had returned to work taking Izzie with them. There were no shortage of volunteers to take care of her when they got called to an anomaly. Everyone loved the little girl.

* * *

Abby pushed the door open to a horrible sight. The future predators had gone straight for the easy target, a poor defenceless baby. The youngest creature was stood in the corner watching it's parent, learning from the kill. The adult future predator hunched over the playpen, ready to finish the hunt it had started.

"Daddy!" Isabelle cried. "Mummy Daddy!"

"Get away from her!" Connor shouted, throwing anything and everything he could find at the creature.

It turned around and growled at him but was not to be distracted from it's task. Abby shot it in the back and it yelped. Izzie screamed and Connor war frantic, forgetting his own safety and running for the little girl.

The bullet hadn't been enough to deter the animal and it lunged at Connor as he went to pick Isabelle up. Abby shot it again and again and again as she sobbed until the predator fell to the floor. The younger creature snarled and growled at her but she aimed her gun at it.

"Touch my baby and you'll wish you were as dead!" She ground out.

Connor lifted the sobbing Isabelle from her playpen and pulled her to him, rocking her as he cried himself.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart, I'll never leave you again I promise."

He heard the other creature growl again and then jumped at the sound of Abby's weapon firing several more times, clutching the baby closer.

Abby dropped the empty gun and ran to Connor and Izzie just as the reinforcements arrived. She hit Connor repeatedly as tears ran down her face.

"You stupid, stupid man, how could you be so stupid?" She cried.

He stood and took the blows, feeling he deserved far worse.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He said over and over.

"Mummy no!" Izzie said, confused by her mother's actions. "No!"

She scrunched her nose up, looking angry.

"It's ok." Connor soothed, trying to convince himself and Abby as much as he was Isabelle. "It's ok now, everything's ok."

Abby's anger deflated and she held on to Connor and Isabelle. Becker came in and lifted the little one from their arms carefully, taking her away to cheer her up while her parents consoled one another.

"I should never have left her Abby, I'm so sorry."

She looked up at him, he was a mess with bloodshot eyes and tear stained cheeks. She had no doubt that she was in a similar state.

"You weren't to know that there were future predators on the premises Connor."

"I still shouldn't have left her."

"No, you shouldn't." She agreed.

"If anything had happened then I don't know . . . "

"Nothing did happen Connor, try not to think about the what-if's."

But it was difficult not to, for both of them.

"We should go see her, make sure she's ok."

Abby nodded in agreement.

"I think I freaked her out when I hit you." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

He wished she'd hit him harder.

They both walked together to the infirmary where Becker had taken Isabelle to get her checked out. As the adrenaline rush wore off, they both began to feel completely exhausted and miserable.

"Mummy Daddy!" Isabelle called excitedly as they entered the room.

"Hi baby." Connor greeted, walking up to her and smiling.

Abby followed and they both fussed her.

"Bad dog!" She said crossly.

They chuckled.

"It was a future predator Izzie." Connor explained. "Very bad."

She nodded.

"Yep." She agreed. "Raff?"

Connor pulled the little stuffed giraffe from his pocket, he'd grabbed it from her playpen before they left his lab.

Isabelle took it, clutching it to her chest and babbling nonsensically to it the way she always did. It was like her little friend and she had to take it everywhere.

Abby and Connor got checked out themselves by the medical staff, Connor having a small scratch on his arm from the future predator. After all receiving a clean bill of health, they left the Arc and journeyed home to the relative safety of their flat.

Once there they fed Izzie, Abby taking her for her bath and then putting her to bed. When she was sleeping and the flat was silent, Connor and Abby had nothing to say to one another. After the day's events they both felt terrible. Abby blamed Connor for what happened, despite trying hard not to, and Connor blamed himself. They went to bed and for the first time since their relationship began, instead of cuddling up, they turned away from each other, Abby crying silently into her pillow.


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Blinded by Love, Chapter 7

Warnings: Copious amounts of angst, Hurt/comfort, language, fluff

Disclaimer: Primeval and it's characters belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Two weeks after the incident at the Arc with the future predators and Abby and Connor's relationship had deteriorated rapidly. They avoided one another wherever possible and only really spoke when they were with Isabelle.

It had started for Abby with a slight resentment towards Connor for leaving Izzie. For Connor it began with the guilt he carried for the same reason but what made him feel worse was that he also felt like he had lost Abby's trust. This had quickly spiralled out of control making them both miserable.

Connor just didn't want to deal with the situation, he was afraid that if he did then Abby would reveal that she didn't want to be with him any more and he couldn't handle that. The fact that every night they slept in the same bed was becoming harder and harder to deal with too. He made excuses to stay at work later or went out after and sat alone in the pub. Thing was, that just made him feel like he was missing out on spending time with his daughter.

Abby had been angry with Connor, no, worse than angry - furious, but these feelings had now subsided and she was just left with fear. Fear that she would lose her child, that she could have lost her - almost did, fear that she could have lost Connor too. Now she was afraid to let Isabelle out of her sight for even a second. She had demanded leave from work despite already missing so much time and threatened Lester with handing in her notice if he didn't agree.

After another extra shift at the Arc, Connor plodded dejectedly into the flat.

"Daddy Daddy!"

He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips, he would never tire of hearing his daughter's excited cries at the sound of her Father returning home. She was sitting on the floor at Abby's feet, surrounded by toys but they lay forgotten and she got onto her knees, crawling towards him.

"Hey baby." He greeted.

"You're late." Abby stated softly.

"Yeah, had some stuff to do."

Neither one made eye-contact and Abby seemed to accept his explanation, seeming to Connor like she couldn't really care less.

"Daddy!" Isabelle exclaimed again, putting her arms up to be lifted.

"Just a minute Iz, Daddy's got dirty hands, I'll just go wash em."

He rushed off into the kitchen, washing his hands quickly and returning to the living area.

"Connor! Just . . . Wait there!" Abby urged in hushed tones.

He froze on the spot, wondering what on earth was going on but saw Isabelle now standing in the spot where she **had** been sitting. She had pulled herself up onto her feet numerous times using furniture and stumbled around whilst gripping on tightly. This time however, she was nowhere near the sofa or a chair, it was clear she had clambered to her feet unaided.

The little girl looked up at her Dad adoringly, flashing him a beautiful smile that was so much like Abby's it made his heart ache. Then she moved one foot forward, wobbling and teetering before moving the other foot to join it.

Connor was ready to move speedily if she should fall but watched on in awe as she took one, two, three more steps. She came to a stop just short of Connor's feet, looking extremely pleased with herself and lifted her hands in the air once again.

He swept her up, spinning her round and kissing her cheek.

"Yay! Well done Izzie!" He praised.

Abby ran up to them, applauding Isabelle.

"Yay! Clever girl!" She cooed, leaning forward and kissing Isabelle's other cheek.

Isabelle was applauding herself now too and Abby and Connor both laughed, catching one anothers gaze for the first time in a long time. It was amazing to see that smile on Abby's face and for a moment it was easy for Connor to forget their troubles. All too soon though, the memories of the last two weeks returned and they looked away, smiles fading.

"Daddy kiss!" Isabelle said.

He kissed his daughter again.

"Mummy kiss!"

Abby kissed her, stopping to blow a raspberry on her cheek which made her chuckle.

"Daddy kiss!" She said again.

It was one of her favourite games, that and pointing at everyone in the room and making them say their names over and over which was cute for the first five minutes but could get extremely tedious after a while.

Connor grinned and gave her another kiss, promising himself that from now on he would be home on time every night. Regardless of his problems with Abby, he wasn't going to miss out on any more than he had to of his child's life. If he had returned any later tonight then he may have missed her first steps.

"Mummy kiss!"

Abby kissed her again.

"Daddy kiss Mummy!"

Abby and Connor looked at one another uncomfortably, they hadn't been intimate at all in the last fortnight.

Isabelle looked on expectantly, not understanding why they weren't playing her little game, they'd always played along before. She flashed them a grin, her only two teeth showing.

Connor leant forward and kissed Abby quickly on the cheek and then walked away with Izzie.

"C'mon trouble, let's get you in the bath and then Daddy will tell you a dinosaur story."

Isabelle clapped her hands excitedly and squealed, she loved Connor's stories and found it difficult to get to sleep without one.

Once Connor had disappeared into the bathroom with Izzie, Abby sat down on the sofa and sighed heavily. She put her head in her hands and cried. It really felt like things between her and Connor were over, he couldn't even bear to kiss her any more. Their relationship had always been comfortable and easy, even when his love had been unrequited but now . . . now it was completely the opposite and it was breaking her heart.

* * *

Connor sat at his desk in the Arc fiddling with his hand-held anomaly detector. He was giving it an upgrade, or trying to, his mind kept drifting elsewhere though.

It was Isabelle's first day at nursery today and he couldn't help wondering how she was. He'd gone with Abby to drop her off and she'd screamed the place down as they walked away. The staff there had assured them that once they'd gone she'd be fine and that they would call if there were any problems but still . . . she was so young, he hated the thought of her with strangers.

The private nursery had come highly recommended though and it was the only place Abby would agree to leaving her while they went to work. Besides, it would probably be good for Izzie to mix with other children from a young age, her first birthday had passed without much fuss. They knew no people with any children to invite and so it was just them, Becker, Sarah and Danny. At least now she would meet friends and form new relationships.

Connor looked up and noticed Abby slinking off with her mobile to her ear, no doubt calling to see if their daughter was ok despite promising not to. Things had definitely changed between them now, they had to stick together for Isabelle's sake but Connor had started sleeping on the sofa more and more often. They chatted at work and around Isabelle but all intimacy was lost, no eye-contact, no bodily-contact of any kind.

"How is she?" He asked when Abby came back into the room.

"It's nap time, but she's been playing with the other kids."

"That's good."

She nodded and sat back at her desk continuing with her work.

They both watched the clock all day, praying that an anomaly didn't open today of all days and when finally it came to leave, they both stood simultaneously and rushed out together.

The car ride to collect Izzie was a silent one, but it wasn't so awkward the way it used to be. Now the quiet between them was just the norm and far more appealing than facing their problems.

Isabelle's nursery was only a ten minute journey from the Arc and they arrived in no time at all, hurrying into the building, two pairs of eyes searching. When they spotted the little girl, black pig-tails held up with red ribbons, one falling to the side slightly, wearing a little denim dress with red tights and matching rosy cheeks they both grinned from ear to ear.

"Izzie!" Abby called, waving frantically.

Isabelle turned and looked at them, smiling and showing off her dimples.

"Mummy! Daddy!"

She pushed herself up and toddled over to them, lifting her hands into the air. Abby picked her up and hugged her tight.

"Mummy missed you little girl." Abby said.

Connor leant in and kissed her forehead,

"Did you have fun sweetheart?" He asked softly.

"Yep."

A member of staff came up to them and informed them of the events of Izzie's first day and then they left for home. Isabelle babbled happily for the whole journey about her day, Abby and Connor catching an odd word here or there, she was still mostly on one or two word sentences, but it was good to see her excited about the new childcare arrangements.

When Connor came into the living area with his daughter's meal, he was surprised to see that Abby had fallen asleep on the sofa, Isabelle playing happily on the floor. He picked her up and placed her in her highchair. It was typical, Abby moans about how much she misses Izzie all day and then when they get her home she falls asleep straight away.

"Poor Mummy." Izzie said, pointing at Abby as Connor fed her a spoonful of mashed carrot.

"Yeah, poor Mummy." He replied sarcastically.

"Awwww, poor Mummy."

Connor smiled despite his annoyance at Abby, Izzie was just too cute sometimes.

* * *

The next day at the Arc, Sarah stopped Abby in the corridor.

"Hey Abby, I thought we could use a girlie night, go out for a meal on Saturday, go to a few pubs."

Abby looked thoughtful for a moment as if mulling it over. She'd had a terrible headache for a couple of days now, alcohol and a noisy pub probably weren't a good idea, besides, they left Izzie all day, she didn't think she could leave her at night too.

"It sounds good Sarah but I can't, I have Izzie."

"Connor can have her for one night surely."

"He can, he does it's just . . . I can't, sorry."

Abby walked away but Sarah wasn't satisfied, her friend needed a break from it all, she could tell she was unhappy about something and bottling it up was never a good way to go.

Later on Sarah went into Connor's lab to have a quiet word with him.

"Connor?"

"Hmm?"

He was working on a new gadget, wouldn't tell anyone what it was. The laser cannon sat in a corner, the shiny metal covered in a thin layer of dust.

"I'm trying to get Abby to go out at the weekend."

"And?"

"She won't go, she say's she has Izzie."

"She does."

"But you're there right?"

"Since when has that made a difference?"

Sarah frowned, was she missing something?

"I just wondered if you could have a word, convince her to come along?"

"What makes you think she'll listen to me?"

Now she knew she was most definitely missing something.

"Erm, I don't know. Because she's your girlfriend!"

Connor sighed, he didn't actually think Abby **was** his girlfriend anymore. They never kissed, never touched, never made love. It had been more than three months since they'd had sex and he just wasn't sure where he stood anymore - if there was any hope left at all for them or whether Isabelle was destined to come from a broken home.

"I'll talk to her." He told Sarah.

******************

When Connor got home, Abby and Izzie were already there and it was Izzie's bath time. He could hear her splashing and giggling and Abby shrieking, no doubt being soaked by the little monster. She loved her baths and often cried when it was time to get out.

He waited until Isabelle was tucked up in bed and Abby was putting away her toys before he broached the subject of her going out.

"Abbs, Sarah said she asked you to go out this weekend."

"Yeah she did."

"Why don't you go and enjoy yourself, I can take care of Izzie."

"Nah it's ok, I'm not really that bothered, I've not been feeling all that great."

She rubbed at her temples to try and alleviate some of the discomfort there, she would have to take a couple of painkillers before she went to bed. She wished Connor would come to bed tonight and hold her, it had been so long since he had and when she felt ill, she just wanted a hug.

"But you could do with a girls night, stress-free, be good for you."

"I told you I don't want to." She snapped. "I'd rather stay home with Isabelle.

She hadn't meant to snap but her head really hurt and she really didn't want to go out, why was everyone so keen that she went out?

Connor had been feeling guilty for so long - too long. He'd left Isabelle and she had almost been attacked, could have been killed. That guilt had eaten away at him for months, destroying his relationship with Abby. But why did she keep punishing him? He could feel the guilt gradually turning into anger, was that it? One mistake and now Abby was never going to trust him with their baby ever again?

"Of course you would." He replied harshly. "God forbid you should leave her alone with me."

She looked at him, shocked by his tone.

"Connor I didn't . . . "

"I made one mistake." He interrupted. "One stupid little mistake and that's it is it?"

She swallowed hard.

"You left our baby Connor, that's more than a **little **mistake."

She felt a need to point that out, even though her anger towards him had long since faded.

"I went to get something from the next room. don't you think I play that moment over and over in my head? don't you think I wish things had been different?"

"Yes, and so do I but there's no point worrying about things you can't change. We got to her in time, she's ok."

Their heated argument was doing nothing to ease her aching head.

"You fell asleep last night when you were supposed to be watching her." He accused.

"I haven't been feeling well, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Oh so it's ok for you to make a mistake but not me?"

"What? Connor, **everyone **makes mistakes, it's what makes us human."

"Then why can't you let mine go?"

She lifted her hand to her head again, she was feeling a little light-headed and needed to sit down. She was more than a little confused by Connor's outburst too, she wasn't aware that he felt this strongly about everything. Then again, how could she? They never talked anymore.

"Connor I have, I don't . . . " She winced at a sharp pain in her forehead. "I don't blame you, I just worry about Izzie, I don't . . .

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted, falling to the floor with a thump.

"Abby!" Connor exclaimed, rushing to kneel by her side. "Oh Abby!"

He stroked her face, it was clammy.

Abby's eyes fluttered open, a look of confusion crossing her features.

"Connor?"

"You fainted." He explained. "Oh God, I'm sorry I shouted at you, you said you were ill and I didn't listen."

"It's ok." She replied, pushing herself to a seated position. "I'm fine, really."

"Abby you're clearly not fine, you need to see a doctor."

"No, I'm ok I just need some rest. Probably been over doing it on the diet that's all."

Connor looked at her incredulously.

"You've been dieting?"

He would never understand her, she was already thin and definitely didn't need to lose any weight.

"I've put a bit of weight on so I just wanted to get back down to what I was."

"Abby, you look fine the way you are!, better than fine! You don't need to lose weight!"

She nodded, she had been becoming a little obsessed but she couldn't understand it, no matter what she did her weight seemed to be climbing steadily.

"I'll start eating sensibly again I promise."

Connor pulled her to her feet, steadying her as she almost went down again.

"Lets get you to bed." He said softly. "And I'm going to make you a sandwich."

She didn't put up a fight, she'd eat a block of lard if it would make her feel better than she had in the last couple of days.

Connor helped her to bed where she sat and removed her jeans and socks whilst he disappeared to make her something to eat. When he came back, he handed her the cheese sandwich and sat and watched as she ate.

"You don't have to watch you know, I promise I'll eat it." She said, smiling.

He smiled back and looked away.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you that's all."

Abby leant forward and touched his hand and it was like a jolt of electricity passed between them. As she pulled away he grabbed her hand and pulled it back, holding onto it tightly, not wanting to lose their connection.

"I told you I'm fine, be even better when I've finished this and had some sleep."

He nodded and stood to leave.

Abby panicked, this was the closest they had been in so long and she didn't want it to end. This could possibly be the start of things improving for them at last and she couldn't just sit and watch the opportunity pass her by.

"Wait!"

He stopped and looked down at her, frowning.

"You don't have to leave, this is your room too."

"That's ok, you need your rest."

"Please Connor." She begged.

She hated herself for sounding so whiny but she was desperate. She needed him to hold her, to kiss her and love her again. She felt so lost without him.

"Abby?"

"Stay."

Connor nodded again and walked round the bed, kicking off his shoes and joining her on the other side. He was shocked by how strange it felt to lay in the same bed as her, had it really been so long? He lay there awkwardly while she finished her sandwich and then he felt the bed shift as she settled into it.

Her next move shocked him even more as she rolled onto her side and snuggled against him, head resting on his chest.

"I'm sorry Connor."

"What for?"

"For shutting you out, for making you feel like I didn't trust you with Izzie."

She looked up at him, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Because I do you know . . . trust you that is."

"I'm sorry too." He replied. "I've missed you so much."

Abby couldn't help the sob that escaped and he pulled her up so that their faces were level, kissing her softly and then pulling her to him in a fierce hug.

Connor felt Abby shake against him, his vest becoming moist with her tears and he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I love you." He whispered.

Feeling empowered by the declaration, he said it over and over until they both fell asleep.

***************

The next couple of weeks passed by in a bit of a blur. Izzie was growing so fast, she had definitely found her feet and loved to run around and she seemed to learn a new word every day. She mixed well with the other children at the nursery and had already been invited to three birthday parties.

Abby and Connor were back on track too. They were taking things slow, Connor taking her out for romantic dates or making her nice dinners. It had taken a week of Connor being back in the same bed as Abby again for him to make any kind of sexual advances. He wanted to be sure that things were right between them. When they had finally made love for the first time in four months, he was sure he could hear fireworks exploding around them. He hadn't been able to last long, but Abby definitely wasn't complaining, they'd done it every night since, sometimes twice.

The team at the Arc had been lucky lately, only coming across three anomaly's in the last fortnight, all of which were relatively easy to deal with. Their luck however was about to change.

It was still early and eerily quiet around the Arc when the Anomaly detector went off. Abby, Connor and the rest of the team had only just arrived.

Lester rushed down from his office.

"Ok, What have we got?"

Connor was typing furiously into the detector's keyboard.

"Looks like the anomaly has opened on farmland just outside London."

He continued to type as the rest of the team entered the main operations room.

"Right, off we go then." Becker said. "I'm driving."

They all groaned, they always fought for who would get to drive. Abby drove too fast, Connor drove too slow, Sarah too careful and Danny and Becker too reckless, so no one was ever happy.

They piled into the car, Danny up front with Becker and the other three crammed into the back, and made their way to the farm.

Once there Connor and Abby pulled their portable anomaly detectors from their bags and they started looking around.

Sarah walked with Abby as they searched.

"You seem happier." Sarah told her.

"Happier?" Abby asked, distracted by the pulses and clicks of the detector in her hand.

"Yeah, you've been very smiley this week and so has Connor."

Abby smirked, she was tempted to say that it might be something to do with all the sex he'd been getting but she bit her tongue.

"Are we not always smiley?"

"No, not for a long time."

"Oh."

She hoped Izzie hadn't picked up on the tension between them, she had always tried her best to shelter her from what was going on between her and Connor.

"So you two are ok now yeah?"

Abby stopped and looked at Sarah. Had it really been that obvious that she and Connor were experiencing problems? She pursed her lips and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah we're ok now."

"Good, you had us all worried."

Abby frowned.

"Us?"

"Yeah, me and the guys. It was obvious something was going on, even Connor doesn't usually work that much."

It was true that he had put in a lot of overtime in the last four months, no doubt trying to avoid her which was how he usually dealt with his problems. Abby was surprised though at the relief she felt at hearing Sarah say that he was definitely at work. It had crossed her mind on more than one occasion that perhaps Connor had found somebody else. That would have totally crushed her.

"Over here guys." Danny called from a barn.

Everyone ran across to join him just as a second truck arrived filled with Becker's men.

It was a large barn with a high ceiling and the anomaly was almost as large as the one they had discovered at the airfield. It glistened and flickered, filling the dilapidated old building with light.

Abby bent down to inspect something on the straw-covered floor.

"What is it?" Danny asked.

She touched the substance, rubbing her fingers together and bringing it to her nose.

"We've got blood."

"Great!" Becker said with sarcasm.

"So we've got a predator on the loose?" Danny questioned.

"Maybe, could just be an injured animal." Abby replied.

At that moment they heard a gun firing in the distance and all shot up, running to the door.

"Sounds like a shotgun." Becker informed them.

"Don't farmer's have shotguns?" Asked Connor.

They all shared a look of concern.

"Farmhouse!" Becker exclaimed.

He ordered his men to guard the anomaly and they all ran in the direction of the small cottage.

More shots rang out as they neared the house and it sounded as though they were coming from a nearby field.

"Maybe he's shooting birds." Connor suggested, breathing heavily from his run.

"When have things ever been that simple?" Abby asked, smiling.

"You're right." He replied. "It's probably a twenty foot pre-historic monster on a killing spree."

They grinned at one another, still enjoying being able to converse this way again.

"Help!" Called a man running towards them, shotgun slung over his shoulder and waving his arms frantically.

It was obviously the farmer, wearing a thick green coat with matching Wellington boots and a black woollen cap.

They made their way over to him quickly and he frowned as he took in Becker's uniform.

"Who are you?" He asked and then thought better of it, deciding there were more important matters to attend to. "Never mind, you have to help me, there's some kind of . . . Creature killing all my livestock, it's already had two cows and a horse."

"If I were you I'd be more worried about it coming after you." Becker said.

"Do you have any children?" Abby asked.

It would never have crossed her mind before, but now it was the first thing she thought of.

"Yes two boys." He replied looking confused.

"Where are they?"

"At school."

Abby heaved a sigh of relief and Connor came up behind her, squeezing her shoulders affectionately. Situations such as this brought back a lot of bad memories for them both.

"Wife?" Danny asked.

The farmer nodded.

"She's inside."

"Good, go and join her. Lock the doors and windows and go and sit in an upstairs room. We'll let you know when it's safe to come out."

He nodded again and turned to walk to his home. He stopped for a minute, looking at Danny.

"Who are you people?" He asked.

"That's not important but we're going to keep you safe."

The man seemed satisfied and disappeared into the farmhouse.

"Right then, to the field." Danny said. "Abby, go get your tranquilizer gun."

Abby turned and ran back towards the truck.

"She shouldn't be alone, there might be more of those things." Connor said.

He didn't wait for the nod from Danny or Becker, he ran after her. There was no way he was letting the mother of his child get eaten by some vicious creature.

As Becker, Danny and Sarah entered the field through a small wooden gate, the first thing to hit them was the smell of death. Not far from the gate lay a half eaten cow with flies already buzzing around it.

Sarah gasped, balking and putting her hand over her mouth.

"Don't look at it." Becker advised.

They walked on, across the field.

"Look." Danny whispered, crouching down low.

They followed suit, getting low to the ground and looking in the direction he was pointing.

"What is it?" Asked Sarah sounding horrified.

"I don't know, but whatever it is it's big."

At the other end of the field they could see a dark shape, it was obviously feasting on some kind of dead animal, probably the other cow the farmer had mentioned.

Connor and Abby came running across to join them, Abby holding on to the tranquilizer gun.

"Get down!" Becker whispered, waving at them.

But it was too late, the creature had seen them. It's yellow eyes stared at them for a second as if assessing if they were a threat, then it snarled and ran off into the trees.

"We can't let it escape." Becker said as he started running in the direction the creature had just disappeared into.

They all followed on behind.

"What was that thing?" Danny asked Connor.

"I'm not sure, I'd have to get a closer look but we may be looking at a future anomaly."

It didn't take long for them to find the trail the monster had left. It was obviously bleeding from being shot at by the farmer and had left a trail of blood. They walked for ten minutes, the tree's and undergrowth becoming steadily thicker before the trail ended suddenly.

"Where'd it go?" Asked Abby.

Connor shrugged and they all fanned out into a circle, watching and listening for any signs of life. There were none though, not even birdsong, it was eerily silent.

"It's close." Whispered Becker.

Abby was shocked suddenly by a great weight landing on her from above, knocking her to the floor and pinning her down. The creature looked down at her, teeth stained red with cows blood and the scariest eyes she had ever seen. She screamed, a terrible gut-wrenching sound and Connor looked on in horror. He didn't have a gun, why did he never have a gun?


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Blinded by Love: Chapter 8

Warnings: Copius amounts of angst, hurt/comfort and fluffiness

Disclaimer: Primeval and it's characters belong to Impossible Pictures, no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

The creature growled and snarled and it's fowl smelling breath made Abby feel sick.

"Abby!" Connor cried, running towards them.

"Stop Connor!" Becker shouted, lifting his gun.

The creature was huge, more than twice the size of Abby with grey leathery skin, pointy ears and long sharp claws.

Connor did as he was told, though it was hard not to run to Abby, she looked terrified and he was worried it would want to eat her too.

Becker's gun fired several times into the creature's head, the first couple bouncing off it's thick skin but some hit home causing blood to spatter onto Abby's clothes.

The animal climbed off Abby, staggered around for a moment in confusion and then fell to the floor.

"Abby! Oh God." Connor rushed to her side as she sat up.

"It's ok, I'm ok." She assured.

Becker stood by the creature to make sure it was well and truly dead.

"There's blood!" Connor gasped.

"It's not mine, I'm ok Connor."

She managed to muster up a smile, even though by now the adrenaline rush was wearing off and she was starting to shake.

Connor pulled her to him, shaking himself.

"I thought I'd lost you." He whispered into her neck.

"We need to make sure there are no more of these things about." Becker said.

Danny nodded.

"Call the Arc and get them to send more men. Connor, you need to go and lock the anomaly."

Connor stood, helping Abby back to her feet. She brushed the leaves and dirt from her clothes and began to follow him.

As she made her way through the trees with Connor, Abby felt a little niggling pain in her abdomen but thought nothing of it, she'd probably pulled a muscle when the creature landed on her. As she walked more however, the pain began to get stronger until it made her sweat. She grabbed a nearby tree and clung to it tightly, her other arm going around her stomach.

"Connor!" She gasped.

She got down onto her knee's and leant over, throwing up.

Connor turned around and ran to her.

"I knew that thing had hurt you."

She cried out in pain, it felt as though she was being kicked and punched repeatedly..

"We need to get you to the hospital."

He pulled his phone from his pocket but cursed when he saw there was no signal. They'd already moved away from the others. Connor shouted them, but they didn't seem to hear.

Abby writhed and groaned in agony, her face twisting and contorting.

"Abby, we need to go back to the farm and get help."

"I . . . I can't . . . I can't Connor." She cried.

"Sssh, it's ok." He soothed, stroking her damp face. "Put your arms around my neck."

She did as she was told and he lifted her off the ground. Abby clung to him as he carried her from the woods and across the farmers field. Trying to walk as quickly as he could and ignoring his own discomfort.

"Oh God! Stop Connor please!" She begged.

"I can't sweetheart, we're almost there now."

He continued his journey, holding Abby tighter and whispering words of comfort to her. When the farmhouse was finally in sight he breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's ok now baby, we're here."

He placed her down in the courtyard and pounded on the farmers door.

"Please, call an ambulance." He yelled when the farmer popped his head out of an upstairs window.

The farmer took one look at Abby on the floor covered in the creature's blood and disappeared to make the call. The front door opened and his wife ran out to join Connor.

"Bring her inside out of the cold love." She said softly to Connor.

Abby's face was white now, her lips grey and her skin was covered in beads of sweat. He picked her up again and carried her inside, laying her carefully on the sofa. As Connor placed her down, he noticed a fresh bloodstain on her trousers between her legs. What had that thing done to her? She must be bleeding internally.

"Tell me where it hurts baby."

"My stomach." She managed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly.

"Ambulance is on it's way." The farmer said as he entered the room.

"You hear that babe? Help is coming, everything's going to be fine." Connor said as he knelt beside her and stroked her hair.

He was saying it to calm himself as much as he was her, he was terrified. What if she had lost lots of blood? What if the ambulance took ages to arrive? They were in the middle of nowhere.

Abby let out a little cry of pain and Connor noticed that the bloodstain between her legs was bigger.

"Oh Abbs, come on love."

He pulled her to him, rocking her back and forth, completely unaware of the tears which now flowed down his cheeks.

There was the sound of sirens in the distance and the farmer ran out to meet them, returning a few minutes later with the paramedics.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"An animal fell on her." Connor explained, his voice sounding distant. "She got up, she was ok and then . . . "

The farmer's wife put her hand on his shoulder as the paramedics lifted a whimpering Abby onto a stretcher.

"She'll be ok now love." She soothed. "She's in good hands."

Connor followed Abby out into the courtyard.

Sarah, Danny and Becker were just returning from the woods.

"Abby!" Sarah exclaimed, running towards the ambulance.

"What happened?" Asked Danny.

"That . . . thing that landed on her, it must have hurt her . . . I don't know."

"Did you lock the anomaly?" Asked Becker.

Connor just shook his head, still staring after Abby who was being assessed in the ambulance.

"Right, Sarah, go and lock it up."

"Izzie . . . " Connor said suddenly. "She needs collecting from nursery at four thirty."

"It's ok Connor, I'll go." Sarah offered. "You need to be with Abby. I'll bring Isabelle to the hospital."

Connor just nodded, looking shocked and distant and climbed into the back of the ambulance, holding Abby's hand.

"We've given her something for the pain." One of the paramedics said. "She's a little drowsy."

Anything was better than seeing the pain she had been in moments before.

*****************

Connor had been in the waiting area at the hospital for three hours now. The last he'd heard, they were sending Abby for a scan to check for internal damage and then for some X-Rays but he hadn't heard anything for at least an hour.

He was sick with worry and didn't understand why they wouldn't let him see her. He just wanted to see her face, hold her hand, tell her how much he loved her. Oh God he hadn't told her he loved her for days, what if something terrible happened? He started to hyperventilate and sat down taking deep breaths.

"Mr Temple?"

He looked up to see a doctor stood by him.

"Yeah."

"You are with Abby Maitland yes?"

Connor stood up nervously.

"Yeah, yeah I am. Is she ok?"

"She's asking for you."

He heaved a sigh of relief, that was a good sign right?

"I thought you should be together when I tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"You are her partner?"

"Yes, wait, tell her what?"

He started to panic again but the doctor just walked away.

"Doctor what's wrong? Is she ok?"

Connor followed the doctor all the way to Abby's room, but he wouldn't answer any more of his questions. Upon seeing Abby, he hurried to her side, holding her hand.

"Are you ok love?"

"Yeah, I feel much better."

"Thank God for that."

He kissed her forehead softly and sat on the bed beside her, both looking expectantly at the doctor.

"Well, we did a scan to asses the damage done by your fall and we found something unexpected."

They both swallowed, worried about what the doctor might say next.

"Miss Maitland, you're pregnant."

Abby looked at him in shock and Connor coughed and spluttered.

"Pregnant? . . . But we haven't . . . I mean, aside from this week . . . It's been a while."

Connor's face reddened at his confession.

"About seventeen weeks ago?" the doctor asked.

Connor and Abby both nodded, still in shock.

"But I don't understand, I've still been having my period." Abby said.

"It's common for a woman to have a regular but lighter bleed when they're pregnant." The doctor informed.

"Oh."

Connor's brain suddenly started working again.

"But the fall, all that blood, is the baby ok?" He asked.

"Well, that's where the news turns bitter sweet I'm afraid."

Connor felt Abby clutch his hand tighter.

"It looks like you were carrying twins."

"Were?" Abby whispered.

The doctor nodded.

"It could have been the fall, there could have been other factors, your blood pressure is a little high."

"So what are you saying?" Connor asked in confusion.

The doctor opened his mouth to explain but Abby got there first, turning to look at Connor.

"He's saying I was carrying twins and now I'm carrying one."

"We . . . lost one?"

Abby nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. She wasn't sure how she felt about this, just the fact that she was pregnant was shock enough and four months gone too, how hadn't she noticed? She had had a lot on her mind, what with her and Connor's relationship problems. And then there was little Izzie, she was still so young, now she was going to have to share her Mum and Dad with a baby brother or sister.

But she'd lost a baby, suffered a miscarriage thanks to that horrible creature from the future. Her feelings were all over the place and she wasn't sure whether she should be happy or sad.

"This baby . . . " She began, her voice hoarse. "Will it be ok?"

"We need to keep you in for a few days, keep a close eye on you but the scan showed a healthy steady heartbeat, the foetus is not in any kind of distress."

"Thank you." She said.

She looked at the clock, half past five.

"Izzie!" She exclaimed.

"It's ok, Sarah's got her."

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding.

"You have another child?" The doctor asked looking confused.

"Isabelle, she's fourteen months." Connor replied proudly, smiling as he pictured her sweet face.

"She's adopted." Abby added quickly.

The doctor smiled sweetly at them in understanding.

"Right, I'll leave you to rest."

When the doctor left, Connor frowned at Abby.

"Why did you tell them Isabelle was adopted?"

"She kind of is."

"Yeah but she's ours."

"I know that and you know that Connor but the doctors will have been able to tell from all the tests and examinations that I haven't given birth before."

"Ah! Good thinking."

Connor felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to read the text message.

"Sarah's here with Izzie, you up to seeing her?"

Abby's face lit up.

"Always!" She replied.

"I'm just going to collect her from Sarah then."

He went to the door but just as he reached it, Abby called out to him.

"Connor?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't say anything to Sarah, not yet, I just need to . . . "

"It's ok, I wasn't going to. I'll just tell her you lost some blood and now you're ok."

Abby smiled at him and he walked back in, kissing her softly before leaving for Izzie.

When Connor had gone, Abby's thoughts went into overdrive, she was pregnant, she had a tiny life growing inside her. She just hoped that it was going to stay there until it was ready to come out. She'd missed out on this with Izzie, at the time she had seen it as a good thing, no big belly and swollen ankles, no backache or contractions; just an instant family. Now however, she realised that she wanted this more than anything in the world and the loss of the other baby suddenly hit her. Abby's arms went protectively around her stomach as tears streamed down her face.

"Please stay strong." She whispered.

She wiped her tears away, she didn't want Isabelle to see her upset. Abby was just fluffing her pillows when she heard Connor coming down the corridor making aeroplane noises.

Izzie's head popped round the door and Abby grinned.

"Mummy!"

Connor brought her in, placing her on the bed next to Abby.

"Hello there baby girl." Abby greeted, holding her tight. "Did you have a good day a nursery?"

"Yep. Paint."

"You paint a picture?"

Isabelle nodded, then frowned.

"Poor Mummy." She said. "Mummy sick."

"Yeah, but I'm feeling much better now Izzie."

"Awww, poor Mummy."

Something suddenly struck Connor. Isabelle had said the same when Abby had fallen asleep on the sofa. Had she known even then that Abby was pregnant? Not so much known the actual reason but picked up on the subtle changes in Abby, her tiredness and headaches.

"Izzie, Daddy's going to take you home and Mummy's got to stay at the hospital so the doctors can look after her." Connor explained.

"Mummy home!" She pouted.

"I can't sweetheart." Abby cooed. "I've got a poorly tummy and the doctors are making it better."

"Ok." She sighed, sounding more like fourteen than fourteen months. "Hug!"

She threw her arms around Abby.

"We don't have to go yet baby." Connor said. "We can stay and talk to Mummy for a little while."

"Yay!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands.

While they sat and chatted, playing games with Isabelle, Abby thought more than once about telling Izzie about the baby but she wanted to make sure everything was ok first, she'd wait till they were all home together.

***************

The few days at the hospital turned into two weeks. The doctors had been concerned about her blood pressure, but it finally went down and Abby had been allowed home.

They gave her a picture of the baby and what struck Abby was that it was so perfectly formed. You could see it's head and body, little arms and legs, tiny little nose.

Abby and Connor sat down with Izzie on Abby's knee and explained that there was going to be a new arrival.

"Izzie" Abby began. "Do you remember how Mummy was sick and had to go in the hospital?"

"Mummy no!" She cried. "Stay."

"Oh, darling, she's not going anywhere, it's ok." Connor soothed, stroking her ebony hair.

Abby got the picture of the baby out and gave it to Isabelle.

"Mummy's going to have a baby sweetheart." Abby said softly.

"Izzie Mummy's baby?"

"You'll always be my baby." She replied, kissing her head.

"You get to be a big sister Iz." Connor said. "You can look after the baby and make sure it's safe."

"Play?"

Abby chuckled.

"Yes, you can play with it when it's a little older."

Isabelle looked at the piece of paper curiously, turning it around and shaking it. It didn't look much like a baby.

"Baby?" She asked. Where Mummy's baby?"

Abby touched her abdomen, rubbing is affectionately. She was beginning to show, but it wasn't noticeable if you didn't know what you were looking for.

"It's in Mummy's tummy." Abby explained.

Isabelle poked her stomach.

"Why?"

"It has to grow in there for a little while, then when it get's big enough, it comes out of Mummy's tummy."

"How?"

Connor and Abby exchanged looks, they didn't want to go into too much detail, but the little girl always wanted to know everything.

"Mummy pushes it out." Connor said, worrying that she was going to ask how or worse, where the baby came from.

"Ok." She said cheerily.

She pushed herself off Abby's lap and toddled off to find her giraffe.

"Well that went better than I expected." Connor stated.

Abby nodded in agreement.

"Abbs, I've been thinking."

"When are you not thinking Connor?" She asked, smiling as she watched Izzie play with her favourite toy.

"Good point, but no, I was thinking that with the baby coming and everything that we need a bigger place."

Abby made a face.

"I know how much you love this place babe, and I love it too but we need to think of the kids. What if it's a boy? We can't have em sharing."

It was strange to Abby for Connor to be sounding so practical, strange to hear him say 'kids' as well. Not child, not just Izzie but little bump too.

"It's not that, this place is great for Rex, lets him stretch his wings."

"Well we can find another house with big high ceilings, but one with three bedrooms."

She nodded, he was right of course but that didn't make her feel any better about leaving this place behind.

*****************

As luck would have it, Becker knew someone who was selling a place, a barn conversion which definitely had the high ceilings and four bedrooms too! Abby had joked that this meant they could have another baby after this one and Connor had paled visibly.

By the time they had moved in, Abby was eight months pregnant and so she had to leave most of the decorating to Connor.

He decided to surprise her by decorating Isabelle's new room. She was getting a big girl bedroom, since she found out about being a big sister everything was 'I'm a big girl'.

Abby came up the stairs to wake Izzie from her nap. She was sleeping in their room whilst hers was being decorated. As she walked past, she caught sight of the most vile colour she had ever seen. She walked in, looking at the room.

Abby looked at the two pink stripes and cried out loud "Connor! You idiot!"

It was the brightest pink, almost psychedelic and what made it worse was that she was sure that Izzie would love it if she saw it.

"It's a bit much isn't it?" He grinned.

"A bit? I need my sunglasses! Get it covered up before Izzie sees it."

Once Izzie was fed and watered, Abby made Connor take her shopping so they could choose the colours for Izzie and bump's room's together.

They chose a neutral lemon and pastel green for the baby's room, and pale pink and the same lemon for Isabelle's. Abby made sure that she kept popping her head round the door and checking he was doing a good job and that all traces of bright pink had been eliminated.

When she came down the stairs after her third trip, she smiled. All three prehistoric creatures and Izzie were asleep, snuggled up on the couch.

*****************

It was three weeks later when Abby was awoken in the middle of the night by a sharp pain rippling across her abdomen. Then she noticed she was wet, her waters had broken. Abby reached for Connor's form only to find him absent from their bed. Oh God where was he? She needed him.

"Connor." She called out. "Connor!"

A contraction hit and she gritted her teeth, breathing heavily.

"It's ok babe, I'm here."

"You're dressed!" She stated in confusion. Why was he dressed at three in the morning?

"You were fidgeting more than normal in bed, so I was keeping a close eye on you." He explained. "Then I felt your waters break so I got dressed, got your bag ready and phoned Sarah to come and stay with Izzie."

She smiled warmly at him, he really was amazing sometimes. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he'd do something to surprise her.

"C'mon, lets get you out of those wet things and then we can be ready for when Sarah arrives."

He helped her to change into a loose fitting nightshirt she had bought especially for this occasion and then walked with her to the living room, sitting her on the sofa.

The doorbell went moments later and Connor let Sarah in, telling her the ins and outs of Isabelle's routine before leaving with a groaning Abby.

Once they had gone, Sarah pottered around. She couldn't sleep because she was too excited, she kept having to stop herself from calling the hospital for any news. She washed Abby's sheets, cleaned up in the kitchen and had a nosey at the new baby's room.

At six thirty on the dot, Izzie woke up asking for her Mum. Sarah explained that she had gone to the hospital and at first the little girl cried but then when Sarah told her they'd be coming back with the new baby, she soon settled.

Isabelle and Sarah watched TV and had breakfast and by ten o'clock there was still no news. Izzie turned to Sarah clutching Giraffe tightly.

"Baby yet?" She asked

"No, not yet sweetheart."

"Ok." She replied.

Sarah was getting a little concerned, she knew these thinks took time, but still. She was just about to pick up the phone when it rang.

"Hello?"

"Sarah?" Came Connor's emotion filled voice from the other end. "Awww it's brilliant." He gushed.

It was obvious he had been crying.

"We've got a little boy, a beautiful little boy. Seven pounds nine ounces."

"Awww Connor that's great, congratulations."

At the mention of her Dad's name, Izzie got up and ran over to Sarah.

"Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy." She sang happily.

"Is Abby ok?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah fine, just tired and sore."

"Mummy Mummy!"

"I think someone wants to speak to you." Sarah said, chuckling.

She handed the phone over to Izzie who immediately started babbling, then she exclaimed "Yay!" And dropped the phone, clapping her hands and jigging around.

On the other side of the phone Connor laughed as he heard his little girl. He said his goodbyes to Sarah and then rushed back to Abby's side.

She was feeding their new son and he moved up, kissing her lips and then the baby's head. They really were the perfect little family now, one of each.

"I love you Abby, I'm so proud of you."

She had done the whole thing with only gas and air for pain relief. **He'd** almost passed out from the pain of her crushing his hand and she had pushed a whole person out of **her**.

"I love you too."

"I can't wait to show him to Izzie."

"Me neither."

"Abby?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you marry me?"

She looked at him in shock but then smiled, reaching out to him.

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

_The End_


End file.
